Has anyone ever painted with distemper?

[BumbleNova]

any tips?! We peeled off the very badly put up lining paper in our 1890s house and found lime plaster. its in surprisingly good condition so we will be touching up where needed and painting.

i understand from both Farrow and Ball and Little Greene's website we cant use their absolute matt/intelligent matt or for F&B their estate or intelligent emulsion? only the distemper?

this was much more than I bargained for...

Yes, and I don't like the smell, because it is mixed using size from boiled-up dead horses. You mix it up and apply it hot.

I have also had an old house with old distemper and wouldn't use it again. It was built with thick lime plaster and I never found a problem using emulsion on it. If you wanted to maximise breathability, you could use Dulux Trade Supermatt which is a porous non-vinyl emulsion and is mostly used for new plaster that is still drying out. It is not very durable.

Distemper will resist cold-water sponging but washes off in hot water. I've always found it is inclined to rub off on your clothes. Perhaps that was due to age.

Yikes - the little greene one claims to be low odour, I hope thats true!

Thanks for the advice. We are concerned about letting the walls breathe, so thats worth looking at.