Ricardo Alderete is a specialist in traditional lime renders applied with cane and broom. He has handled air lime since the age of 12 and is proficient in the techniques and processes of working with lime: slaking and sieving, storage for improving quality, preparation and… application of limewash, and the use of various natural additives for enhancing lime’s properties along with countless natural pigments, allowing for how they will behave in the lime mix. He is also proficient in the trabadillo technique – rendering with a mixture of lime, plaster and/or sand, with or without natural fibres.

The use of cane involves painstaking harvesting work during the waning moon in January. It must then be tied tightly to a builder’s rule, ladder or other utensil so that it dries as straight as possible. After two years of drying it is ready for use. Ricardo sees broom coupled with cane with a brush tied to the end as the best tools for applying lime – elastic as well as tough and firm, which qualities no modern painter’s extension pole has managed to improve on.

One feature of lime renders in Málaga province is the use of countless additives to give them a range of properties. Thus Ricardo uses casein for wood and wall surfaces, helping the mix to stay in place, various glues to retard setting, and, above all, oil. Any oil will do, but small quantities of olive oil are best. This is applied in the last coat or coats, making facing walls resistant to the elements and also allowing greater brushability. The practice also contributes to the recycling of oil.

Ricardo Alderete also does some jobs with the trabadillo lime and plaster technique, with traditional motifs and also modern patterns for decoration: imitation concrete or polished concrete, imitation lime stucco, or faux stone.