Soy paint is paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

 made primarily from soy, it combines the advantage of being a renewable resource

Renewable resource

A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...

 with the potential of non-toxic product.

Oil

Soy oils have been used in paint since at least the early 1900's, with paint being the second largest market for the oil in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 between 1914 and 1918. Soy oil was an early runner to replace linseed oil

Linseed oil

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil, is a clear to yellowish oil obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant . The oil is obtained by cold pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction...

 in paint products but did not transition fully, in part as it was attractive as a food product. In 1933 Robert Boyer

Robert Boyer (chemist)

Robert Allen Boyer was a chemist employed by Henry Ford, he was extremely proficient at inventing ways to convert soybeans into paints and plastic parts used on Ford automobiles. -References:...

 developed an enamel

Enamel paint

Enamel paint is paint that air dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enamel", where vitreous enamel is applied with brushes and...

 soy paint which was used on Ford automobiles. Soy oil was attractive to manufacturers because of its very good drying quantities.

Latex

Soy flour or protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 is used in latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 type (water based) paints as a replacement for casein

Casein

Casein is the name for a family of related phosphoprotein proteins . These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk, making up 80% of the proteins in cow milk and between 60% and 65% of the proteins in human milk....

. Some manufacturers have shown a renewed interest in Soy paints for its low VOC

Volatile organic compound

Volatile organic compounds are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary, room-temperature conditions. Their high vapor pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and...

 and general Green building

Green building

Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...

attributes. At least one manufacture in 2009 was selling a non-toxic 0 VOC soy paint product.