PolyWhey™ Floor and Furniture Coatings From Vermont
by John Laumer, Philadelphia 
on 01. 5.08
Got a dairy that makes cheese? If you do, you've also got whey which you likely pay to manage as a waste - unless you are a whey supplier of Vermont Natural Coatings, that is.
Vermont Natural has developed two whey-based coatings: one for wooden furniture; and, the other for floors. The results look good on their web site. Odor is reported to be less than for comparable synthetic coatings, such as urethane or epoxy; and, remarkably, odor is described as less than even other water based-coatings.
At first glance, the price, in excess of US$60/gallon, seemed high. Then we saw these two specs, which explain the value:
Conventional water-based finishes have an average coating coverage of 300 to 400sq.ft./gallon PolyWhey’s cover is 450 to 500sq.ft./gallonPolyWhey has a cured hardness twice that of other water-based finishes which means it is hard wearing even on floors that have heavy traffic.
We have no idea how good these whey-based coatings perform for chemical resistance and UV stability. However, the Vermont Natural Coatings website explains that "Some conventional oil and water-based finishes contain toxic heavy metals and formaldehyde. PolyWhey’s™ binder is non-toxic whey protein."
Per the product MSDS listed by Vermont Natural, two of the curing components of these coatings pose a potential health hazard while in liquid form (before curing). So, as with any paint, or stain, you want to minimize skin contact and inhalation of aerosols.
Image credit::Vermont Natural Coatings website.
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
I used the PolyWhey furniture coating to finish a pine bookcase, and it seems to have worked great. I wrote about my experience with it and its recycled plastic container on my blog on December 19:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/12/plastic-free-yogurt-well-almost-plus.html
Of course, time will tell how it holds up. I can attest that there was only a very mild smell while I was using it, not unlike Elmer's glue.
I used the PolyWhey furniture coating to finish a pine bookcase, and it seems to have worked great. I wrote about my experience with it and its recycled plastic container on my blog on December 19:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/12/plastic-free-yogurt-well-almost-plus.html
Of course, time will tell how it holds up. I can attest that there was only a very mild smell while I was using it, not unlike Elmer's glue.
I just read about Vermont Natural Coatings in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/17/waste.renewableenergy
Sounds like a truly green product!