- Can you add colour to limewash?
- Why you can't use standard paint pigments in limewash
- An easier alternative: Blending EWI-707 Lime Wash with EWI-705 Lime Paint
- How to mix tinted limewash with earth pigments
- What will coloured limewash actually look like? Managing expectations
- Surface prep for coloured limewash, don't skip this
- Troubleshooting coloured limewash, common problems
- Quick reference, tinting limewash with EWI-707
- Not sure which products are right for your project?
Can you add colour to limewash?
Yes and tinting limewash is one of the best ways to achieve a beautiful, characterful, heritage-style finish on exterior walls, brick, stone and lime render. But it's not as simple as adding any old pigment or paint. Get the wrong colourant and you'll end up with a finish that fades quickly, separates in the mix or dries to a completely different shade than expected.
The good news is that once you understand how coloured limewash works, it's a straightforward process and the results are hard to beat.
Why you can't use standard paint pigments in limewash
EWI-707 Lime Wash is highly alkaline, typically sitting at a pH of 12 or above. Most conventional colourants, including standard tinters and acrylic-based pigments, are not designed to withstand that level of alkalinity. They'll chemically react with the lime, causing the colour to fade, discolour or burn out quickly.
To add colour to limewash successfully, you need alkali-resistant mineral pigments, sometimes called lime-fast pigments or natural earth pigments. These are chemically stable in a lime environment and will hold their colour as the wash cures and carbonates.
The most commonly used alkali-resistant pigments for tinting limewash include:
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Yellow ochre
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Raw and burnt sienna
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Raw and burnt umber
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Red and brown iron oxides
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Black iron oxide
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Carbon black
These earth pigments produce the warm, muted, natural tones that limewash is known for and they're fully compatible with EWI-707 without affecting breathability or bond strength.
What to avoid: universal tinters, acrylic pigments or anything designed for standard emulsion. These are not lime-fast and will not give a durable result.
An easier alternative: Blending EWI-707 Lime Wash with EWI-705 Lime Paint
If you want a simpler route to coloured limewash without sourcing and mixing raw pigments, blending EWI-707 Lime Wash with our EWI-705 Lime Paint is a great option and it's one we recommend on several of our product pages.
EWI-705 is a mineral-based, fully breathable lime paint that's already pigmented and alkali-compatible, the two products work together naturally. A ratio of 1 part EWI-705 Lime Paint to 10 parts EWI-707 Lime Wash introduces colour while keeping the finish light, translucent and fully vapour-permeable exactly what you want from a limewash system.
This approach is particularly well-suited to heritage restoration work and projects where you want a characterful, mottled, traditional finish rather than a solid flat colour. It also removes the guesswork of pigment ratios and gives you better batch consistency, important if you're covering a large elevation.
A few things to keep in mind when blending:
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Always do a test patch and let it dry completely before committing, the blended finish will dry lighter than it looks wet
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The addition of lime paint will make the wash slightly more opaque, which subtly changes the character of the finish
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Stick to the 10:1 ratio as a starting point and adjust cautiously, increasing the lime paint proportion can affect how the wash applies and bonds
How to mix tinted limewash with earth pigments
If you're going the raw pigment route with EWI-707, here's the correct process:
Step 1: Make a pigment paste first Never add dry pigment directly to limewash. Instead, mix your pigment with a small amount of clean water to form a smooth, lump-free paste or slurry. This breaks the surface tension of the powder and allows it to fully disperse into the wash without streaking.
Step 2: Add paste to the limewash gradually Slowly introduce the pigment paste into your EWI-707 Lime Wash while stirring continuously at low speed. Don't add it all at once.
Step 3: Mix thoroughly Stir until the colour is completely uniform throughout the batch. Any inconsistency at this stage will show up as streaks or patches on the wall.
Step 4: Test and dry before committing Apply a test patch to the actual surface you're working on and allow it to dry completely. In normal UK conditions this means leaving it for several hours, ideally overnight. Do not judge the colour while it's wet.
On pigment ratios: keep your pigment load to 2–5% by weight relative to the limewash. Some may suggest you can go up to 10% by volume, but exceeding 5% by weight risks weakening the binding properties of the wash and can lead to a powdery or unstable finish. Less is more.
What will coloured limewash actually look like? Managing expectations
This is where a lot of customers get caught out and it's worth being honest about upfront.
It will always dry lighter than it looks wet.
This isn't a fault, it's fundamental to how lime works. As the water evaporates and the lime carbonates, colour lightens significantly, often by 30–50%. What looks like a deep, warm terracotta going on can dry back to a soft blush. What looks cream can dry almost white. Always assess colour from a fully dried test patch, not from the wet mix.
Depth comes from layers, not pigment load.
A single coat of tinted EWI-707 will look very translucent. Two or three coats will gradually build depth and richness. This is the correct way to deepen colour, through multiple coats, not by adding more pigment.
The surface affects the result.
Old brick, stone, or lime render tends to absorb limewash unevenly, producing natural tonal variation, which is one of limewash's most desirable qualities. A smoother or less porous surface will read more evenly. Neither is wrong, but the same mix can look quite different depending on what it's applied to.
Coloured limewash is not a flat, opaque finish.
If you need solid, predictable, even colour coverage, EWI-705 Lime Paint is the better product for that job. Limewash is translucent and varied, that's the point of it, and it's what makes it look so good on heritage buildings and natural substrates.
Surface prep for coloured limewash, don't skip this
The quality of your coloured finish is directly tied to how well you've prepared the surface. Even the best-mixed tinted limewash will perform poorly on a badly prepared substrate.
Check the surface is absorbent.
Do a quick water test, splash a small amount of water onto the surface. If it beads off, the surface is sealed and EWI-707 won't bond correctly. Non-breathable coatings, silicone renders, and sealed masonry all need to be stripped or prepared before limewash will work.
The surface must be clean and sound.
Free from dust, grease, biological growth, efflorescence, and any loose or poorly adhered material. Contamination will affect adhesion and show through the colour.
Pre-dampen before applying.
Particularly important on hot days or highly porous substrates like old brick or lime render. A dry surface pulls moisture from the wash too quickly, preventing proper carbonation and causing patchy, powdery colour. Mist the surface lightly with clean water before each coat, moist, not saturated.
Apply in the right conditions.
Avoid direct hot sun, frost below 5°C, or strong drying wind. All three cause EWI-707 to dry too quickly, which compromises carbonation and the final finish. Mild, overcast days are ideal.
Stir the wash regularly during application.
Lime particles settle quickly. Keep the mix moving throughout the job to maintain consistency.
Troubleshooting coloured limewash, common problems
Colour fading or washing off quickly: Almost always caused by using the wrong pigment type. Non-alkali-resistant pigments, including universal tinters, will break down in the presence of lime. Strip back and start again using proper mineral pigments or blend with EWI-705.
Patchy or uneven colour on the wall: Usually the result of uneven surface absorption, the wash drying too fast, or not enough coats applied. Pre-dampen the surface more thoroughly, avoid direct sun during application, and build up additional coats to balance the finish.
The colour looks nothing like the test patch: Check that the test patch was applied to the same surface type and fully dried in similar environmental conditions. Temperature, porosity, and humidity all affect the final colour. A test on a different wall section or in different weather can give misleading results.
Darker patches in certain areas: Often caused by lower-absorbency sections, patched or repaired areas are a common culprit. Also happens when a second coat is applied before the first has fully dried. Allow adequate drying time between coats and apply an extra coat over lighter areas to even things out.
Limewash beading or rolling off the surface: The surface is sealed or contaminated. Check absorbency with the water test and prepare the surface properly before reapplying.
Quick reference, tinting limewash with EWI-707
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✅ Use alkali-resistant mineral / earth / lime-fast pigments only
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✅ Or blend with EWI-705 at a ratio of 1 part paint to 10 parts wash
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✅ Always mix pigment into a smooth paste with water before adding to the wash
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✅ Keep raw pigment at 2–5% by weight
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✅ Test on the actual surface and let it dry fully before committing
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✅ Build colour gradually through multiple coats, not higher pigment loads
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✅ Pre-dampen the surface before every coat, especially in warm or dry conditions
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✅ Mix all coloured wash for a large job in one batch to ensure colour consistency
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❌ Don't use universal tinters, acrylic pigments or standard paint colourants
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❌ Don't apply over sealed or non-breathable surfaces without proper preparation
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❌ Don't apply in direct sun, frost or strong wind
Not sure which products are right for your project?
Whether you're a first-time DIYer tackling a garden wall or a contractor working on a heritage specification, our team are on hand to advise. Get in touch via the website, give us a call, or chat to us online.
