Brilliant Whitewash.

Scientific American 5, 2.8. 1862

Many have heard of the brilliant stucco white wash on the east end of the President's huse, at Washington. The following is the a receipt for making it, as gleaned from the National Intelligencer, with some additional improvements learned by experiment:-

Take half a bushel of nice unalacked lime, slack it with boiling water, cover it during the process to keep in the steam, and add to it a peck of clean salt, previously well dissolved in warm water; three pounds of ground rice, boiled to a thin paste, and stirred in boiling hot; half a pound of clean glue, which has been previously dissolved by first soaking it well, and then hanging it over a slow fire, in a small kettle with a large one filled with water. Add five gallons of hot water to the whole mixture; stir it well and let it stanc a few days covered from the dirt. It should be put on right hot; for this purpose it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. It is said that about one pint of this mixture will cover a square yard upon the outside of a house, if properly applied. Brushes more or less small may be used, according to the neatness of the job required. It answers as well as oil paint for wood, brick or stone, and is cheaper. It retains its brilliancy for many years. There is nothing of the kind that will compare with it, either for inside or outside walls. Coloring matter may be put in, and made of any shade you like. Spanish brown stirred in will make red or pink more or less deep, according to the quantity. A delicate tinge of this is very pretty for inside walls. Finely pulverized common clay, well mixed with Spanish brown before it is stirred into the mixture, makes a lilac color. Lampblack in moderate quantities makes a slate color, very suitable for the outside of buildings. Lampblack and Spanish brown mixed produce a reddish stone color. Yellow ochre stirred in makes a yellow wash - but chrome goes further, and makes a color generally esteemed prettier. In all these cases, the darkness of the shade will of course be determined by the quantity of coloring used. It is difficult to make a rule, because tastes are very different; it would be best to try experiments on a shingle and let it dry. It is said that green must not be mixed with lime. The lime destroys the color, and the color has an effect on the white wash which makes it crack and peel. When walls have been badly smoked, and when you wish to have tem a clean white, it is well to squeese indigo plentifully through a bag into the water you use, before it is stirred in the whole mixture. If a larger quantity than five gallons is wanted, the same proportions should be observed.