According to The Farmers’ Almanac and LiveScience, there is a
very practical reason why farmers have traditionally painted
their barns red, simple economics.
Most of America’s early farmers did not have money they could
spend on paint to cover their barns. In fact, many of them could
not even afford to paint their houses. Still, they needed to
protect their barns from the elements so they experimented with
various concoctions until they found one that worked.
Once it was developed and proven to work, word quickly spread
that a proper mixture of skimmed milk, lime, and ferrous oxide (rust) to kill fungi and as
an extra sealant, and linseed oil would
protect barn wood from rotting due to moisture. Luckily, those
ingredients were in abundant supply on most farms of the day so
they were available even to the poorest farmers. Incidentally,
many houses in Sweden are red for the same reason.
Sep 16, 2020
Why Barns Are Red
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