Good question! That is the question that reader Robin asked in her comment in the previous blog post “Paradise Point … one last morning drive” … why are so many barns painted red?
I’ve been thinking about that since Robin asked that question in her comment to that blog post. And I’ll bet you folks have been thinking about that too. In fact, I bet lots of people are keenly interested, have been wondering about this very same question, and are eagerly waiting and watching for an answer. In fact, here are some exceptionally curious folks in the photo below.
They too must be wondering … why are so many barns painted red?
Is it so cows can find their way back to the barn? Maybe cows see red more easily than they see other colors?
Maybe barns are painted red so the farmer can find the barn more easily in a terrible winter white-out snow storm? Or maybe the thinking long ago was that the color red kept barns warmer in winter?
What about the idea that the color itself repelled or prevented the entrance of critters that might hurt the animals inside or that might damage the wooden structure of the barn? You bad critters, you keep out of here!
Maybe people figured red barns would keep the hay stored in them warmer (or cooler?) or more moist (or drier?)
Why do so many people paint their barns red?
As you might expect, I’ve done a bit of research regarding this very question. Here’s what I found out … it’s interesting!
Hundreds of years ago, when wooden barns were first being built in North America, there were no paints or sealants that were produced commercially. Farmers had to be resourceful in finding what would protect and seal the wood.
They came up with a number of ideas and practices. The most popular idea was brought over to North America by Swedish people. The basic substance that was applied to wooden barns (and homes) was linseed oil made from flax seeds. Linseed oil is orange. Farmers would then add a variety of things to the linseed oil, sometimes milk and/or lime, but often ferrous oxide … rust … dark red rust! Rust became more and more plentiful (and free) on farms as the use of iron increased. Farmers noticed that moss and mold did not grow on rust, and they noticed that rust killed moss and mold when rust was applied to wood that already had moss or mold growing on it. So red rust was scraped from iron things that were used around the farm and the red rust powder was then added to the orange linseed oil mixture. Voilà … red “paint”, that protected the wood from moss and mold growths and protected the wood from deterioration.
The photo above is of a barn in Sweden.
Today, there are modern paints readily available commercially in all sorts of colors, many of them with mold inhibitors and other components that protect the wood no matter what the color of the paint is. But many farmers (and other barn owners) all over the world continue to paint their barns red today simply because of time-honored tradition.
And so, my friends, that’s why barns are painted red. 🙂