Editing Whitewash (section)

== Applications ==

=== Orchards ===
[[File:Campsite-Oludeniz.JPG|thumb|White-painted trees in [[Turkey]]]]
{{main|Tree paint}}
Whitewash is applied to trees, especially fruit trees, to prevent [[Sun scald (flora)|sun scald]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/repositoryfiles/ca2406p8-63768.pdf | title=California Agriculture PDF | publisher=ucce.ucdavis.edu | date=June 1970 | access-date=February 12, 2014 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215511/http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/repositoryfiles/ca2406p8-63768.pdf | archive-date=February 22, 2014 }}</ref> Most often only the lower trunk is painted. In Poland painting the whole trunk is also said{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} to help keep the body of the tree cool in late winter and early spring months and hence help prevent fruit trees from blooming too soon, i.e. when warm sunny days could promote rapid tree warming, rising sap and bloom and intermittent frosty nights could damage outer tree rings and destroy the young buds and blossoms.

=== Dairy barns ===
[[File:Verloren Vlei Heritage Village, Elands Bay 3.jpg|thumbnail|A whitewashed ''langhuis'' (long cottage) in rural Verloren Vlei, Western Cape region of South Africa]]

In the middle of the 20th century, when [[family farm]]s with [[dairy]] barns were common in the [[Upper Midwest]] of the [[United States]], whitewash was a necessary part of routine barn [[Maintenance, repair, and operations|maintenance]].

A traditional animal barn contains a variety of extremely rough surfaces that are difficult to wash and keep clean, such as stone and brick masonry, and also rough-cut lumber for the ceiling. If left alone, these surfaces collect dust, dirt, insect debris and wastes, and can become very dirty.

Whitewash aids in sanitation by coating and smoothing over the rough surfaces. Successive applications of whitewash build up layers of scale that flake off and, in the process, remove surface debris. The coating also has antimicrobial properties that provide hygienic and sanitary benefits for animal [[barn]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fiascofarm.com/recipes/whitewash.html |title=Fias Co Farm/Recipes- whitewash |publisher=Fiascofarm.com |access-date=2014-02-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708175757/http://fiascofarm.com/recipes/whitewash.html |archive-date=2013-07-08 }}</ref>

=== Other uses ===
Whitewash was painted on the internal walls of [[Royal Navy]] vessels during the [[Age of Sail]] to improve light levels inside a vessel's [[gundeck]], reduce bacteria and prevent wear and tear on hull timbers.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Goodwin|first=Peter G.|title=The Application and Scheme of Paintworks in British Men-of-War in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries|year=2013|page=288|journal=The Mariner's Mirror|volume=99|issue=3|publisher=Society for Nautical Research|location=Portsmouth, United Kingdom|doi=10.1080/00253359.2013.815993|s2cid=162165859}}</ref> It was also used during the [[World War II|Second World War]] by the German armed forces as an easy-to-apply winter [[camouflage]] for soft- and hard-skinned vehicles, aircraft and helmets.<ref>{{cite book | last=Rothman | first=Gordon L. |author2=Dennis, Peter |title=World War II Tactical Camouflage Techniques | pages=52|year=2013}}</ref>