Greetings, dear friends of Home Solutions, welcome to my blog. Today is “Save Your Pocketbook” Saturday, and that's exactly what I want to talk to you about. Nowadays, given the austere economic situation our country Venezuela is going through, maintaining a home has become almost impossible. Many years have passed since my house was last painted. Gallons of paint are quite expensive, of course, depending on the brand. To give my home a little TLC, I started with a couple of gallons of class A exterior white paint, which was enough to paint only the front of the house, but only one coat. Each one cost $20, and for the number of square meters, I had to buy two more gallons to improve the finish, which was quite expensive just to paint the front.

To make matters worse, the walls of the porch were quite ugly, stained, and since it was a large house, the cost of painting them would be quite high due to the number of gallons I would have to buy. That's when a cousin told me that one alternative for painting walls is to use lime, which leaves everything nice and white and is quite inexpensive. However, there are several considerations to take into account when painting with lime. Lime has the disadvantage of poor adhesion, especially on smooth walls, and it also tends to stain, so it becomes the enemy of our clothes and skin if we happen to lean against a wall painted with this product. Painting with this alkaline material requires preparation to improve adhesion, finish, and durability. Painting with lime alone is not recommended due to the disadvantages I mentioned above, and we don't want that, right?.

To prepare lime-based paint, I used the following ingredients:

- 2 kilograms of lime

- 10 liters of water

- 500 grams of salt

- 3 to 5 aloe vera leaves

- 1 tablespoon of tilosa

- 1 tablespoon of powdered detergent (optional)

- A brush (for painting smooth walls)

- A broom brush (for corrugated walls)

- A 10-liter bucket

First, add 10 liters of water to a bucket, along with a tablespoon of tilosa, 500 grams of salt, and the aloe vera crystal cut into cubes. Mix together. Then add the lime and detergent and mix again. Do not start painting right away; this mixture should be left to macerate for at least two days, or longer if possible—the longer, the better. The aloe vera improves adhesion to the wall and makes it easier to apply with a brush, as well as preventing smudging and cracking. The salt helps the paint dry faster and also improves adhesion to the wall. The tilosa improves consistency, thickening the mixture, which has a positive effect on durability. The detergent is just to create some foam, which is why I said it is optional. For the smooth wall, I used a brush, while for touching up the front and side walls, which are rough, I used a broom brush.

After the first application, it is necessary to wait until it has dried thoroughly before applying the second coat. We recommend waiting approximately 5 hours. .

We also touched up the front and side wall of the house.

It is very important to talk about how much we save. A bag of lime costs $6 and weighs 8 kilograms. Two kilograms of lime can be used to make 10 liters of paint, which means that an 8-kilogram bag can make 40 liters. With 10 liters of lime-based paint, I was able to paint 13 m², two coats (26 m²), and 19 m² with a single coat, for a total of 45 m². In contrast, 1 gallon is equivalent to 3.78 liters and can paint 30 to 40 m² with a single coat. Class B paint can be used for exteriors and interiors, and the cost ranges from $10. This means that with 2 kilos of lime (10-liter preparation), I can paint 32 m2 with a single application, and with the bag of lime (40-liter preparation), I can paint approximately 128 m2. On the other hand, if I use conventional paint, to paint 32 m2, I would need 1 gallon ($10, reference price), and for 128 m2, I would need a little more than 4 gallons (approximately $40, for a single application).

If we use lime and calculate the cost for a 128m2 wall, the cost would be $6 for the lime (8 kilos), $3 for the tilosa (50 grams), and $0.69 for each of the four kilos of salt, for a total of $11.76. For two applications, the cost would be $23.52. I have aloe vera at home, and the detergent is optional. In addition to the low cost, we would obtain an eco-friendly paint. I hope you enjoy this post and that it helps you save money.