In the old days, there wasn’t much book learning, and there wasn’t an internet. So folks lived by common sense. That meant if something was cheap (or free!) and it did the job, then that’s what was used.

So what, right? Well in the old days, cotton cost too much to clean by hand and then spin into thread. Flax was much easier… Cut the stalks, smack the seeds into a basket, soak the stalks for a week, and you had the raw fibers to make linen. The longer you soaked the stalks, the darker the linen got, so you could even ‘dye’ the linen without spending any money!

The seeds were a by-product of making the fabric for their cloths. So the linseed oil was free. When the oil was crushed out, the seeds could be fed to the livestock.

In the old days, before refrigeration was available, most farmers had plenty of milk available. Combining the milk with the linseed oil created a protein-based glaze on wood that was weather-resistant. \Milk paint\ was the common paint most folks used since they could make it themselves. \Oil paint\ was made with linseed oil and other additives – and it cost money.

And the ferrous oxide could be found almost anywhere… Walk along a stream and look for red mud – that’s ferrous oxide leaching out of the soil!

So the oil, milk, and ferrous oxide were free… Not a bad deal considering most of these barns when cared for, lasted over 100 years!

\Red Barns\ was an awesome article – thanks!!

Unless Jonny is trying to argue economies of scale from large-batch production of red paint. Or is it MY logic that is off? (Distinct possibility.)

Actually, the mold IS the agent of decay. The problem isn’t that it traps water; the problem is that some species of mold digest cellulose or other complex carbohydrates, which is what breaks down the wood. The water is necessary for the mold’s growth.