'green' products

Shelley · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:35 am Post subject: 'green' products

I have a friend here in Sacramento who specializes in Green products. She uses Dimensions Plasters and American Clay. I have offered to help her at a local green summit in exchange for a class using these products.

Has anyone tried to use mostly green and what are your experiences with it?

Elena · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 6283 Location: Murphy, NC

..not yet...but I will Embarassed

KathyFakesIt · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject:

www.stripfx.com

100% zero VOC

Use it all the time. Strippable plaster.

joe greco · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 557 Location: Toronto

TOTEM Is green.

Most of our products are NO VOC or very little including our glazes...

Judes · Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 89 Location: Toronto,Canada

Green is word that means much much more than ZERO VOC's and there are a number of organizations offering 'certification'. Overall to be certified your plant and processes have to be certified not just a single product.
Now there are some groups that do certify a single product based on ZERO (not low) VOC's, bio-degradable and some with recylced material.All must meet chemical formulations that do not include specific components whether they are emulsified or not. Some require burn point and all kinds of other things.
I have looked into this for as far as I know my product is green (stripFX)and has been listed in several magazines along with other plaster products now and then. However these magazines are really looking for LOW voc's (conformity to current standards) and water based for article content. Some go a bit further but the word has been overused.
So be aware and don't be taken in with this "green" designation. At the moment the National Certifications do not have testing for plaster products either here in Canada or the USA>- as far as I know today. They do for paint, but not plaster.Now there's a way...........lime wash right up to Marmorino is just thicker paint.................!!!!
When they do I will be there in a flash.If anyne has heard of a National group that has been given the agency by the USA that is certifying plasters please let me know.
Judes

Judes · Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 89 Location: Toronto,Canada

Joe- I just read your post. Totem is in Canada and is green??? GREAT! Would you pelase send me the info and plaster designation code ? I am getting nowhere with the Enviormental Agency for either CANADA or the USA.
Frustrating as &^$##@@@@!!!
Super!
Judes

Shelley · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:37 pm Post subject:

I just happen to have a gallon of Strip FX in my studio!!

I havent done ANY research on this at all, so Im glad you all know what your talking about. In fact I just found out about these products my friend uses a few days ago (im slow)

waiting to read more

painted spaces · Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 1022 Location: omaha, ne

I took a short class with Joe and the TOTEM products in Minneapolis back in November. The products are awesome!!!! I am just now getting around to playing with some of them; showed my samples in the recent Home Show here and got great feedback on them. I am looking forward to working with "green" products more and more.

Joe--please keep us all updated on the new TOTEM stuff.

Tara

Judes · Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 89 Location: Toronto,Canada

Shelley- so you received your gallon - have fun experimenting, call me if you have any questions. Judes

joe greco · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 557 Location: Toronto

Thanks TARA....Just to let you know we are launching our new ULTIMATE VP March 10th.

The main feature with this plaster is that it requires no top coat...the finish is very washable...

Yes washable.

covergirlfaux · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4238 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Joe...It sounds like your products are DA BOMB! I'm going to have to check everything out and will probably become a loyal and faithful customer. Anything that makes our jobs easier, healthier and looks fabulous wins my devotion!

Shelley · Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:30 pm Post subject:

Judes - yes I got it!!! Thank you.... When I have time to sit and play, I will do that and watch all my videos at the same time....

Joe - Ultimate VP??? Will that work in a steamy bathroom? I have a brand new remodel that needs something snazzy and sharp!

lisascenic · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:51 am Post subject:

Generally speaking, there are no "green certificates" offered in the US. So, beware of "greenwashed" products that claim to be more eco-friendly than they actually are. (Please understand that I'm not singling out any paint companies with my sweeping generalization...)

http://www.greenwashing.net/

http://www.newstarget.com/021186.html

cleta · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3239 Location: Chapel Hill, NC

I do have some experience with "green products". I've taken 2 classes in American Clay - the most recent was a 3 day certification class in Bozeman, MT. I really enjoy working with American Clay and love the damp earth smell while it dries...no icky headache-inducing fumes. And it is super-low VOC. I guess that is the big buzz-acronym with green stuff.."VOC". And I don't think most people really understand what this means. Volatile Organic Compound...carbon compounds that form ozone in the presence of certain photochemical reactions. Artifical VOCs are things like paint thinner, solvents, gasoline. Biological polluters include trees, cows, termites (??). Anyway - something with high VOC is going to sit on a wall and emit VOCs back into the atmosphere. and a lot of this stuff also causes allergies in certain people.

AC is the only product class I've taken and I was totally impressed with the training! the lecture time was almost as much as the actual hands-on time...we had to complete 5 different walls, using all the products, and take a written test. Don't know what other product instruction is like.

American Clay, lime plaster & lime paint, etc. have a super low VOC, are great for people with allergies and are actually natural mold and allergen inhibiters. Which is why I like these products because I have respiratory allergies and am super-sensitive to solvents. I love lime paint - it has so many possibilites just in one can!! I haven't tried Joe's products yet (although I do have my samples sitting in my studio)...I used another brand - this was before I found this forum and heard about Joe's products.

But - having said that, if you are looking at AC to be a totally VOC-free experience, it's not. The sanded primer and sealers are acrylic and do have VOCs. One of their sealers is labeled "low VOC"...but if you are doing something for a client who is gonna freak over the use of any VOCS, then you just need to know that there are SOME in AC. Go to their website and get the technical data and MSDS. They have a great website. www.americanclay.com

I think some people also make the mistake of thinking that if you are using an enviornmentally friendly product, you don't need to take any precautions while mixing or using them, which is a huge mistake. The mixing of American Clay definitely requires the use of a dust mask (i use NIOSH rated N95 resp. from 3M) as the dry product out of the bag creates a cloud of dust which contains silica...a lung irritant. Use eye protection too.

Lime plasters and paint - very caustic to the skin and eyes when wet and the dust is not something to inhale either. I use purple nitrile gloves and eye protection when working with lime products.

My next foray into "green products" is the restoration plasters from Master of Plaster.

My advice is: read the technical data sheets and MSDS - and that would be for any product, not just green. But sometimes "green" stuff seems to carry this 'cloak of invisibility' that implies that because it's green, no need to worry about anything.

Shelley - I have to say that I am totally spoiled by the natural products. I've tried using synthetics and can't do it. The smell gets me immediately, and I am always disappointed by the workability. That goes for mural paints, too...if I could do everything with casein and egg tempera I would.

Okay...I'm gonna get my creaky bones off this soapbox for now. Wink

lisascenic · Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:43 am Post subject:

Shelley · Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject:

Lisa, Cleta, Sheri, Lynn - whoever else is in CA. We are going to be forced to switch to green products in the near future (5, 10 yrs?), Im sure of it. Mainly because CA is usually at the forefront for anything environmental. We were having this conversation a few days ago, glazes will be a thing of the past... Im really trying to educate myself because I honestly have no idea what I have been using.

What an ignoramus! Gosh, if its sold here I must be able to use it...... Confused

DesignerFinishes · Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Florida

I own a green company and deal with green builders, I have been doing this for about 6 months. I have trained with American Clay and when you say that there is no set green products what do you mean? American clay is 100% from the earth from its binders, aggregates and also what you tint it with. I don't think you could get more green than that. I agree that many companies claim green saying there products are low VOC but that in part does not mean the product is green.
Try American Clay 1 time and will tell you, you will wonder why you would use anything else. By the way green builders and designers need applicators as I am swamped with 6 months worth of business...

Linda Marsteller · Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 2291 Location: Winter Park, FL

Minerva Plasters ... minervafinishes.com Ron Layman and his products
Joe Greco
Minerva has the same European supplier as Dimensions but better prices. This is what I taught at SALI last July and at Arlene's in November. Minerva also carries a few more products than Dimensions.
I learned plasters with Rividil products and with Ron Layman and love those products, too. I just saw Joe's Totem products last month when he was in Orlando.
I love the lime plasters...love love love them. Just get the sheets and you will see what is in the products.
There is "green" and then there is "GREEN".

joe greco · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 557 Location: Toronto

So tru LINDA

GREEN

Elena · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 6283 Location: Murphy, NC

I love green, and love Totem
Linda...I'm drooling here Razz

Elena

KathyFakesIt · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:48 am Post subject:

Rob,
I recently tried American Clay. I love the look and the ease of application and the greeness. I hate the heavy bags and the ease of destruction of the finish. (I did recommend that they sell their product in smaller quanities - like maybe 30 pound pails to address the largely female market - they're still ignoring that idea)

I have decided not to use it because it seems that it would scratch so easily. Can you address this issue for me? Have you found that to be true or is that unjustified?

I would really love love love to offer this look to clients but I don't want to be called back to repair (yes, very easy to repair scratches and even gouges, but my clients won't want to do that) every minor scratch.

Marlow · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 490 Location: CT.

All 100% lime plasters are GREEN. There are some things in paint that have no VOCs but will kill you. Green is out of control! The paint industry is calling there paints (BM, SW others) green because they meet the new VOC laws and it fools the public. Lime is green, but get it in your eye and you can go blind! Research, research , research!!!!!!!

lisascenic · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:29 pm Post subject: Re: American Clay

Please note, I am not singling out any vendors or manufacturers. I don't have an axe to grind. I truly want us all to live long healthy lives as artists. I just want to try to expand our understanding of these issues, based on the many, many classes I've taken on this very subject.

KathyFakesIt · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject:

Very well said....but, I still need to educate myself a helluva lot more to make informed choices around these issues.

Then there is the whole issue of taking a truly green product and putting it on top of drywall (sheetrock) or topcoating it with something impermeable, which negates the whole "green-ness" of it.

Oh Yah, and one more thing that Barry Affleck pointed out to me...even though a product may be truly green, one needs to investigate the production methods of said product. THe method used to burn lime can produce more toxins and smog then the production of regular old paint.

joe greco · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 557 Location: Toronto

Slaking of lime is toxic but still very natural process. The manufactures must still use recycle wood in the baking stages.

paint companies are marketing there paints as low in VOC not really green. there are some NO VOC paints out there and yes they are green.

for example we are marketing our LIME PAINTS as green. We have no VOC and we are testing some really interesting tinting systems that have not hit the market yet.

I just seen a brand new tint from DEGUSA the largest pigment/dispersion company in the world. Very powerful and very low VOC almost down to 25 grams a liter. Most colorants are up to 300 grams a liter.