Red lead in filler

[BigFinn]

hello all,
I've been thinking about fillers. I understand white lead was used in the past as a fungicide/mildewside.
I don't have any whitelead, but I do have some Pettit quick drying red lead paint that my wife's grandfather squirreled away in the 60's.
Could this be mixed with an oil based filler to provide a fungicidal effect? Probably it would make for a pink canoe, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Thanks for all replies,
Ron

 

[Benson Gray]

This might work but you may want to experiment with some scrap canvas first. Most people are reluctant to try something new that may require replacing an entire canoe canvas later. Let us know what you find out.

Benson

 

[BigFinn]

Benson,
Thank you for the reply. Since there seems to be no great hue and cry advocating the use of the red lead, I think I'll forego the effort. As you say, it's not the time to experiment.
Ron Aho

 

[Fitz]

White lead is lead carbonate. Red lead is lead oxide. The fungicidal/mildewcidal properties of lead may be overrated. White lead was added to paints primarily as pigment, but it also produced a durable finish and it also oxidized, which could be periodically washed off for cleaning purposes/refreshing the look of the painted surface. Red lead also produced a durable surface, and it reacted with iron producing a rust resistant finish. Hunt around on-line and you can find some great old articles on the use of lead in paint. Not much mention of anti-fungal properties at all, if any. Zinc and mercury were used in paints as fungicides/mildewcides and likely were more effective - hence zinc naphthenate etc..

Cheers.

Fitz

 

[BigFinn]

Fitz,
Thank you for your reply.
I sort of came to the same conclusion re the fungicidal effects of the red lead in reading about it on the interweb. Probably would use zinc if it was still available in US.
Guess I'll go with some sort of mildewcide in the filler when I get to it.

Ron Aho

 

[rbudge]

I believe that lead and most lead compounds will kill almost everything they contact. Red lead was formerly more suitably used as a primer for steel before painting than as a fungicide. White lead is rarely used by anybody for anything these days. Even oil paint artists avoid it, though it is still available in art supply stores as a suspension of lead carbonate in turpentine. It's called Cremnitz White. I think one of the reasons for adding it to paint and filler was to enhance flexibility. There are better ways to do that these days, like latex.