Malta - British Expat Forum

Hello,

Does anyone know a good sealant product that I can use to seal traditional maltese limestone?

The walls of my house are currently bare stone which looks quite nice but is really messy and dusty. One of my maltese neighbours has sealed her walls but unfortunately she doesn't know what they used (apart from the fact that it smelt very bad for a few days afterwards!).

Any ideas?

Thx G

The old fashioned way is with milk and water - the fat in the milk binds the dust. This method goes back to Roman times I'm told - It needs applying every 6 months or so, but very effective (and cheap). Worth a go to see if works on your walls, and if not try something else.

Don't use any sealant that locks in the moisture, as that just stores up trouble. Some chemical sealants look OK for a few years but then discolour leaving patches (milk and water leaves no visible residue)

Ergghhhh, but won't milk and water smell a bit whiffy?

Slight smell for a couple of days, then nothing - we used it on every wall in the house in a hot spell with no regrets - the odd bad stone we redo every 6 months - its the watering down of the milk thats the key - we found semi-skimmed 50%, 50% water worked for us. Use a big fat brush and a bucket and it takes no time at all