Why are barns painted red?

1. 93

   melbelposted 11 years ago

   Why are barns painted red?

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2. 60

   pandy2323posted 11 years ago

   Well, first of all, European farmers from a long time ago used a form of linseed-oil (from a flax plant) mixture as a wood sealant to protect the barn. Then, they would add ferrous oxide (aka rust) to the mixture because it is very common and acts as a poison to many types of fungi (like mold and moss) that grow easily on barns. Rich farmers would also add blood (from dead animals) to the mixure- darker red. After the Europeans brought this red barn/rust-linseed idea to America, it became a fad. And when pigmented paint was first created, red paint was cheapest to buy. So now we are left with century-old fad. Even though a lot of farms nowadays don't have red barns.

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      katyzzzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That's a great answer, so interesting, the old and the new, I would have left an answer but I just didn't know and now I do.  Good on you

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   2. 85

      AlexK2009posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Sounds plausible.  It still seems to be fairly common in Scotland.  Another possible reason is that red makes it  easy to see the barn from a distance and so  get your bearings.  I also note a lot of tractors are also painted red.

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      whowasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      How interesting. My barn is green but then I've never been much of a conformist. That seems to have been an excellent answer at the first hit and I have nothing to add except that I found the question interesting as a person with a barn.

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   4. 0

      JThomp42posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      How stuff works Info.? LOL

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   5. 61

      Vinsanity100posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, this is correct. I was going to write an answer like this but you hit it on the head of the nail.

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      pandy2323posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      @JThomp haha YES, but a summarized version. With my own input.

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3. 85

   AlexK2009posted 11 years ago

   To keep the elephants away.
   
   An answer that fits the data

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   1. 0

      whowasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Alas Alex2009, 'tis not so. Elephants have only diachromatic vision and can't see red. For your edification:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15781694

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      AlexK2009posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Dammn, and it works do well
      
      But thanks for the link. The paper has entered my idea mill

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      pandy2323posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Haha, well, nice try. Was hilarious. Both of you guys.

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4. 83

   tillsontitanposted 11 years ago

   Hard to answer a question that has already been answered with the right answer.  Pandy is correct.  It all started with the European use of linseed oil...she describes the rest correctly!

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5. 60

   August Xavierposted 11 years ago

   I thought that it had to do something with the fact that the red paint was cheap way back in the day. Now it's almost a tradition to have the barn painted red.

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6. 58

   WD Curry 111posted 11 years ago

   
   
   There were two colors of paint stocked by hardware stores or ordered from a catalog by a farmer . . . white or red. The pigment in the white paint was basic lead carbonate and in the red paint it was lead tetroxide. Houses and outbuildings white . . . the barn red.

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7. 61

   SportsBetterposted 11 years ago

   Farm animals enjoy the color red, so farmers accommodate them.

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