Product Details
Ecologic™ Colorwash Stain – (a translucent Potassium Silicate Masonry Stain):
Colorwash Stain is a translucent exterior potassium silicate stain that allows the masonry texture to come through the finish. Colorwash Stain is mildew resistant, water repellent, highly durable, and breathable.
Colorwash Stain is 96% mineral-sourced in a water-base. It is odorless within hours (zero VOCs) and displays all the properties of natural stone (i.e, it is water-vapor permeable.) It does not blister or peel, is water-repellent, and has a life expectancy of 20 plus years.
Mineral paints and masonry stains chemically bond to all forms of masonry substrates such as brick, stone, mortar, stucco, and cement. Unlike latex paints, they are non-film-forming which creates a permanent bond that works in harmony with the masonry.
For more options check out our Ecologic™ Potassium Silicate Paint
Application
Stir well before use. Do not use if the working (air + substrate) temperature is below 41ºF (5ºC) or
above 100.4ºF (38ºC). Apply by brush, roller, or airless sprayer depending on surface roughness.
General Preparation
Surfaces must be rigid, absorbent, and chemically neutral or alkaline, dry, clean, and free of dust, oily residues, and grease. Remove any loose plaster and make good with alkaline absorbent filler. Old coats of latex and alkyd paints must be removed completely in order to restore surface absorbency. Protect adjacent glass, metal, ceramic, etc against splatters and remove unavoidable splatters immediately with water.
Not suitable for:
Wood (not stable), plastic, metal (non-absorbent), floors (mechanical abrasion) and gypsum plaster (not
chemically neutral).
Disclaimer
These products must not freeze during warehousing or transport and may limit availability during certain times of the year. Please call for availability.
Ecologic™ Colorwash Stain Coverage
- Approx. 220-375 sq. ft. per gallon
(varies depending on surface type, pretreatment, and
dilution)
Colorwash Stain Color Samples
Colorwash Stain comes in 13 stock colors (marked by the 100% full tone colors) and hundreds of designer colors. You can download the color pdf here or view the samples below: Ecologic Potassium Silicate and Colorwash Stain 2021 Colors
Custom Paint Colors
An engineered custom simulation can be produced by us to simulate the color of your sample. Color simulations can be conducted with old paint samples or color swatches from Benjamin Moore or Sherman Williams.
Check out our quick reference Mineral Paint Comparison Chart to learn more about the main differences between our Ecologic LimeWash Platinum, Ecologic Potassium Silicate Paint, Ecologic Colorwash Stain, and our Saint-Astier Lime Paint.
Colorwash Stain can be made more translucent by either by adding #99 – Clear ColorWash Stain to your mix or by diluting it with Ecologic Waterglass.
Before and After
Colorwash Stain and Potassium Silicate Paint
We stripped wallpaper in out 1929 home revealing (mostly) beautiful plaster underneath. There were areas where the lime plaster walls had been patched with gypsum plaster or joint compound and we needed to even those out. We used the TAKCOAT product first (which was wonderful to use) and then a combination of Colorwash Stains to cover those areas and to lighten the whole thing. It has turned out like the cover of a magazine! This product is thin and watery, not thick like paint, so just make sure your drop cloth is down before hand and go to town!
My application is perhaps a bit different than the most common uses. I do restoration/preservation work in an historic cemetery and I bought the stain to cover old, bad gravestone repairs that used Portland cement mortar (which is very dark grey) and to lighten up some new repairs where the mortar cured up a little too dark for my liking, missing a good color match by a shade (my bad).
So far I’m very happy with the results although I do think I’ll need to apply a second coat to the Portland mortar (but not the newer repairs which were done using lime-based mortar). Also, I’ll be interested to see what it looks like after a year or so of weathering (very hot here in the summer; damp in the winter). So far, though, it looks good and it’s easy to apply and my little brush cleans up with plain water.
If you have spot fixes and need or want a lime-based product I think this is the ticket.