What is Pastellone?  Pastellone was first known within the Stucco Italiano brand as “Marmorino for Floors” but it is in fact a Floor to Ceiling product that is easy to use and hugely versatile compared to its competitor “resin microcement”. It is breathable, natural and beautiful. Although it could be termed a Microcement as it is a veneer layer and it does have cement in its composition, there are some distinct differences in the 2 materials.   Made of Hydraulic Lime and Portland Cement, it comes in 2 forms – Standard and Eco. The Eco uses Casein as a binder instead of the acrylic binder, however this only represents a 2.5% difference from the Standard.  So with only 2.5% acrylic binder this is a significantly more natural product compared with microcement even in its standard for.

History of Pastellone  

The history of Pastellone as a true Venetian product is a lovely story. Pastellone as I said was originally known at Stucco Italiano as a Marmorino for Floors, it was developed for the early Venetian Palaces that were built with Terrazzo floors as a covering coat to go over the Terrazzo. Rich merchants found Terrazzo to look “common” even when made with fine marble chips. At that time Terrazzo was made with marble for richer customers but it was made for commoners’ floors with waste material – left over marble and brick and other materials from the construction of Venice, that helped them make their flooring cheaper. The look of chips in the floor became associated with making it cheap. However, Terrazzo was very strong as a base coat and the owners of the grander houses wanted seamless floors and thus Pastellone was born. As you wander round some of the amazing museums and grand houses in Venice, look to the edges of the stairs where the Pastellone coating has not been worn away.

How Does it Work

Pastellone comes in 2 grades – Medium and Fine – it is a 3 coat system for floors that can either be worked as 1 coat of Medium and 2 of Fine or it can be worked all the way through in Medium.

There are lots of additives that can be added to the Pastellone Medium to add interest and rhythm to your project such as Mother of Pearl, Mica and Aggregate Chips. There are also a few that can be added to the Fine such as Salt and Pepper and Terracotta Powders.

• Unlike most Microcements you have a long pot life – about 6 hours is reasonable but this can be extended by keeping mixed buckets covered and in cool conditions.
• Unlike most Microcements, you only sand the final layer.
• Unlike some Microcements, it has no harmful resin in it that can affect both you and your client’s health.
• Like Microcement when applied to floors it is sealed with a varnish in most instances although it can be finished with a Linseed Oil or Stucco Italiano’s Eco Top made of oils and waxes if you want to go for a really natural finish.
• We have a variety of varnishes which suit each type of application. On walls the choice of topcoats are endless including beeswax, mineral wax, Marseille soap, Moroccan Soap along with varnishes. In an exterior setting a natural finish would be Marseille soap but for extra waterproofing you may want to use Hydrocalce or Hydrophobix