Brouns & Co Brings Linseed Oil Back to Paint Formulation

The ingredients in current paint and coatings formulations are fairly well known, but many of these are relatively new to the industry. By contrast, there are ingredients that were popular in the past, but have mostly faded from use. Yet these ingredients make a very good paint, and some of these materials are enjoying a resurgence.

Such is the case with linseed oil. Linseed paint was used for centuries before it was overtaken in the 1940s. Now, Brouns & Co, Yorkshire, UK, is focused on linseed paints, and business is growing; the company recently opened up local warehousing and distribution in Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA. The company also has a new US-only website, www.LinseedOilPaint.com.

“The remarkable rise in demand for linseed paint and coatings in Europe has now been outpaced by the US market, where architectural styles mean that there is greater need to preserve and protect both historic buildings and new structures that lean into the importance of natural components and carbon footprint,” said Michiel Brouns, founder of Brouns & Co.

Brouns is a published expert on the application of linseed paint and a worldwide authority on its history and production techniques. He is working with US architects and preservation bodies on numerous projects in the United States, including the restoration of President George Washington’s Mount Vernon summer home in Virginia.

Brouns gained his expertise in restoring and renovating historic buildings in his native Netherlands before moving to the UK in 2006 and setting up Brouns & Co in Yorkshire. He noted that originally the business was started a result of selling historic windows to restoration professionals, who were unable to find the correct paint to treat the frames they had invested in.

“I decided we should make it for them,” said Brouns. “After almost 20 years in business, we concentrate solely on making and selling the most historically accurate natural paint and stains and distilling the high-quality linseed oil that we use to manufacture them.”

The History of Linseed Paints

Brouns spoke of the method of making a traditional linseed paint.

“Traditionally, artists and decorators made their own paint by mixing a paste from their chosen pigments and an oil base,” he observed. “They would do this by using simple, manual tools: just a muller (a short-handled tool for grinding pigments) and a slab. They would start by grinding the powder pigments with a little bit of oil, then would add more oil as they went to create the correct consistency. Artists would typically use less oil in their paint, while house painters would use more in order to create a thinner paint more suited for painting over large areas.”

Brouns said that if the linseed paint is applied correctly, the maintenance cycle of linseed paint is 10-15 years, after which time it still does not need to be repainted but simply to have linseed oil rubbed over its surface.

“Its amazing wicking properties mean that it lets water out rather than holding it in under the surface of the paint, which is what happens with plastic-based paint,” Brouns pointed out. “This means that it keeps the wood or metal dry and protects it from rotting or rusting. With plastic-based paints, letting water enter through cracks in the paint, where it then rots or rusts the underlying wood or metal because it cannot escape, is the norm unless a stringent regime of regular stripping and repainting is carried out.”

The lasting performance of linseed paint can be seen worldwide.

“Testament to the product’s technical performance can easily be seen by a visit to regions of Europe such as Scandinavia, where wood that was treated with linseed paint as long ago as the 17th century is still in magnificent condition hundreds of years after it was first painted,” Brouns noted.

“Linseed paint is the perfect product for historic buildings, where it is playing a major part in the restoration and preservation of timber,” Brouns said. “But it is also ideal for new properties because its performance, durability, price and sustainability cannot be beaten. Our linseed paint also comes in a range of 40 historically accurate colors.”

The use of linseed paint is of interest to architectural societies in the UK and US.

“We’ve been working closely with Royal Institute of British Architects in the UK and US for several years, and also the American Institute of Architects, who are meeting the demand for more information and training on the use of these products and techniques that were almost completely lost over the last few hundred years,” added Brouns.

Key Markets

As for important markets, Brouns reported that Brouns & Co has always sold paint right across Europe where the traditions of using linseed paint started, and in the UK where their linseed oil is made, but since 2018 the company has been focused on the US market for a few reasons, and has seen ten-fold growth.

“The preservation needs of the earliest settled parts of North America mean that heritage professionals have been keen to embrace a high-performance natural alternative that has the integrity of being historically accurate to the period of the structure they are preserving,” he noted.

“In addition, the sheer volume of buildings constructed of wood makes it a natural target market for our products,” added Brouns. “Finally, the move towards more sustainable construction techniques and materials, especially in areas where the environmental impacts of chemical-based paints is a particular concern, such as close to waterways and oceans, has driven demand in recent years as well.”

Meanwhile, the UK has also proven to be a fertile area for linseed paints, with Brouns & Co being called on for projects as prestigious as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

“For over a decade we have seen increasing adoption of linseed paint in historic preservation in the UK,” Brouns said. “From the UK’s National Trust properties including stately homes and castles, to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and other public buildings including the Natural History Museum, our products have been increasingly specified to replicate the original coatings used on buildings from several centuries ago.

“The initial demand was from preservation professionals with a focus on wooden features or components in older buildings, but gradually as the history of the paints has been understood, we’ve seen more projects where the paint is applied to large Victorian iron and steel structures from pre and post the industrial revolution,” he continued. “We still sell around 60% of our product volume in the UK, increasingly to private consumers with a desire for either historic authenticity or to use sustainable materials and avoid forever chemicals in their homes and gardens, but we expect the US market to overtake that volume in 2025.”

Brouns & Co is also branching out into other traditional uses of linseed coatings, including stains.

“There is significant interest in reducing the use of chemicals and the environmental impact of the construction of buildings we use, and that includes in the paints that are applied to them,” said Brouns. “We’ve just launched a range of internal wood stains for floors that has been really well received, and with external stains concluding three years of testing in the UK we’re close to broadening our product range for exteriors too.”

Outlook for the Future

Brouns is optimistic about the future of linseed paint and noted he is excited about the progress and opportunity in the North American market.

“We’re discussing partnerships with a number of US supply chain partners and working directly with manufacturers of pre-treated materials,” he reported. “We are also spending a great deal of time in the US in 2025 to provide training and education workshops with architects and contractors who need to learn about the correct application of the products, building on the program we delivered in New England, the Mid Atlantic and Southeast US in 2024.

“There’s no doubt that the people care passionately about the huge number of historic buildings in the US,” Brouns added. “We’re partnering with organizations such as AIA, RIBA, APTI and Healthy Materials Lab and with private and public sector bodies to help with the process of preservation both by consulting on techniques and providing authentic paints and stains to replicate original construction and also to improve performance over polymer-based paints.”