re:...to see if Helen may be approaching, because I have no doubt that she knows all about whitewash. One characteristic of the actual substance is that it is very thin when dry, and thus wears away very quickly, exposing the not-so-nice-looking surface beneath.[/bue]

No more than most-- unless your talking about laundry! but whitewash is also thin when wet-- its about as thick as light cream-- where paint is thicker and has more body.. so its failry easy to slap on..but its hard to whitewash anything with out getting spatters on yourself!