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Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, hydrated lime, slack lime, or pickling lime, is a colourless crystal or white powder, and is obtained when calcium oxide (called lime or quicklime) is mixed, or "slaked" with water. It is also a fast acting lime with a burning effect. Great in compost bins. If used on the garden there should be a reasonable rest period before seeds or seedlings are planted out.
Its main advantage, however, is that it is extremely powerful. Regular limestone can take several months to raise the pH level of a growing area. In contrast, hydrated lime is up to 1.5 times more effective at quickly raising the pH level than the commonly used agricultural limes. Because it does not provide magnesium, gardeners with an excess amount of that nutrient in their garden soils might find hydrated lime preferable to commonly used garden limes.
It is among the most highly processed forms of limestone. The first step toward making hydrated lime is to fire ground limestone in kilns, resulting in a substance commonly known as quicklime. If the quicklime is further processed by mixing it with water, then drying it, hydrated lime is the result. Hydrated lime is most commonly used as a pickling agent or as a builder's material.
In buon fresco painting limewater is used as the colour solvent to apply on fresh plaster. Limewater is widely used by marine aquarists and is a primary supplement of calcium and alkalinity for reef aquariums. Milk of lime is better known as limewash or whitewash.
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