The Secret to White Washing Brick Slip Walls

Whether it’s a surface to hang artistic pictures on or a surface that will need to be cleaned repetitively in a busy kitchen or family home. White washing your new brick slipped wall provides an attractive and yet functional feature to any project.

Here at brickslips.co.uk we frequently get asked what the correct way is to white wash a wall and being a company that loves to educate we thought best to educate ourselves first. After speaking to a number of professionals within the industry we have compiled a how to guide below which will simply take you step by step through the process of white washing you wall.

Preparation

Firstly a constant from all our professionals was that the surface must be clean, dry, absorbent and dust/grease free. For interior use, remove all loose plaster and apply filler to any large holes as appropriate. Take care to mask all adjacent glass, metal and ceramic before use. Once the surface is clean then you are ready to apply a silicate primer as a base coat. Gloss, lacquer, acrylic or oil-based paints are not suitable surfaces for Silicate Primer.

Apply silicate primer

A silicate primer is the first paint stage in whitewashing your wall. The primer acts in the same way the old lime and salt washes worked in years gone by.

If you do not have a silicate primer then mix one half masonry paint with one half water to create a wash. This wash is what penetrates the brickwork and creates a foundation to paint on.

Some people stop at this stage and leave the wall white and semi translucent.

One thing to note is that if the working temperature is below 8 degree or expected to fall below 8 degree within 24 hours of application hold off on this stage until it is warm enough as the paint will not grab or penetrate sufficiently for further applications.

Staple notes here are that you make sure you stir the primer well before use and apply with a brush or roller in a thin, even and well-spread coat.

Apply Masonry Paint

The easy bit now… Apply your masonry paint once the primer has dried, you can expect that roughly 1-2 coats will be needed dependant on how well covered you require the wall.
If you require a coloured wash then apply several coats in different colour shades and make sure you allow each coat to dry before applying next coat.

Suggestions

The more paint layers the easy it will be to wipe clean, so something to bear in mind if you are thinking of white washing near a kitchen.
There you go, simple and easy and pretty much as you would expect. No tricks or secret trade methods.  Clean prime and paint!

Tips!

The darker and more textured the brickslip the more effort is going to be needed to cover it. We recommend the following slips as our white wash favourites

The Camden, The Portabello, The Hampton, Olde Victorian Red, Olde Victorian Mixture, Olde Victorian Reclaimed White