Paint and Wood Finish

A summary of experiences with various wood finishes and paints:

Milk paint is a nice product, but pretty expensive. I had a moderate reaction when mixing it, which continued until the product dried fully. You should be aware that the finished consistency isn't the same as for a 'standard' paint. It has a slightly rustic and natural look, and is not glossy smooth to the touch. But it's very safe. (We experimented with creating our own milk paint ... that didn't work out too well :-P The casein mixture needs to be just right in order to cure properly).

American Clay is another safe product, I used it to cover the plyboard in my bedroom (an imperfect solution, but I have very strong reactions to any sort of sealant). It's pretty safe and neutral; it has a slight borax odor to it. You can ask for specially-formulated bags made up without borax, too.

If you have any wood to finish, you might want to consider oil & wax. You can purchase a commercial mixture -- but you can also make your own, composed of walnut oil & beeswax (most food co-ops have walnut oil, and you can order bulk beeswax on ebay). But you should test it on a piece of wood that isn't in the house, then let it age ... although walnut oil is resistant to rancidity, all natural oils will develop a foul odor if not mixed with enough wax. (I simply heat it to the melting point in a double boiler, then add as much wax as I can until it becomes too difficult to apply. I rub it into the wood with a rag. After a few hours I come by with a second rag and buff off the excess). It's not a very user-friendly practice, but it's probably the safest and most affordable DIY option.

Zinnser shellac is also recommended for wood sealing sometimes, but I had a very bad experience with it (despite tolerance testing a stained board prior to interior application). It contains a few parts per million of very toxic solvent (I believe it's a xylene derivative), which isn't listed on the label on the smaller containers.

Linseed oil is another wood sealing option, but it also contains toxic impurities (very similar to the shellac). You can get organic linseed oil without additives, intended for use on cutting boards. This can be a bit dangerous -- it seems very safe in the can, but once exposed to air it oxidizes and undergoes a chemical change. My experience is that the unoxidized oil had a pleasant scent, but that the oxidized linseed oil was unpleasant and very toxic. I didn't test it any further, but I imagine that after a couple of days the organic linseed oil would be very safe. Especially if it was ozoned once or twice.

I'm not very happy with the quality of finish provided by AFM or Bioshield wood stains. Although, of the two choices, AFM is much easier to work with. We try to steer customers towards oil & wax finish instead.

(We've worked a lot with different wood finishes on our solid wood furniture).

As far as standard paints: AFM safecoat is generally tolerated better than Bioshield; Sherwin Williams Harmony zero VOC paint is an OK substitute if you need a 'more traditional' option for a landlord or employer. I find all of them to be around 1,000-10,000x less toxic than oil-based paint, but that's a bit like telling the Coyote that the cliff he followed the Roadrunner over is only 100 feet high.

One last point: don't be fooled by a commercial "Zero VOC" label, they are following federal guidelines ... and those guidelines are full of loopholes. AFM is much less toxic than anything you can get at Home Depot.