Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting The Technical Forum how often do you change out your turpentine?

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  • #989417
    domindart
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        and where do you dispose of it?

        So far I have found it okay to use the same turpentine after lots of painting, and I would say I rinse my brush often when using oil paints ..so far..

        :crossfingers:

        #1157168
        sfroelich
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            I never have to. Its in a constant state of use, settle and store.

            As it is wiped away on paper towels and paint shirt, some of it gets used up in the process. Once I am done for the session, the dirty turps go into the settle jar. If there are already turps in the settle jar that have cleared, then that gets poured in the storage can. The cycle starts again the next time I paint. When the storage can gets low, I add more fresh turps.

            [FONT=Impact]Steve
            [FONT=Impact]Wood As Art Studios
            [FONT=Impact]http://stevespaintingfromlife.blogspot.com/

            #1157171
            mariposa-art
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                I do the same thing as sfroelich. Keep on using it, letting the solids settle out, keep using the clear stuff on top, lather rinse repeat until there isn’t anything left.

                #1157174
                domindart
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                    cool, so basically let it settle when not in use, drain into can, clean cup and refill cup….?

                    #1157172
                    mariposa-art
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                        Yep, you got it! :thumbsup:

                        #1157169
                        llawrence
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                            Hmm… maybe I’ll try that. I’ve been using one of those jars with the metal coil in it for years, and it’s a little hard to imagine getting the paint out of the brushes without having that coil to scrub them against. But it sounds like it’s working for you guys…

                            #1157163

                            Anyone who paints with resins may want to change their turpentine more often, as copal, amber, balsams, damar, etc., don’t settle out of solution. After a while, one may find they are cleaning their brushes in diluted varnish.

                            #1157164
                            WFMartin
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                                Anyone who paints with resins may want to change their turpentine more often, as copal, amber, balsams, damar, etc., don’t settle out of solution. After a while, one may find they are cleaning their brushes in diluted varnish.

                                That is quite true. Just because the decanting of the wash-up liquid yields a clear liquid, doesn’t mean that the liquid is pure solvent. That clear liquid is a mixture of all the oils, resins, and solvents that you’ve ever had on your brush when you washed it.

                                I use the decanting/settling method, as others do. I actually have 3 decanting jars. I dump my dirty sediment-laden solvent into the first one. After it has settled a few days, I decant the clear liquid off the top into a second jar. After that has settled, I then decant that liquid into a third jar. It is from this third jar that I fill my wash-up can with the screen in the bottom.

                                But, realizing that the clear liquid is anything but pure solvent, once in a great while I pitch it, and start afresh. However, I can continue for a very long time, by only doing the decanting, and re-using the clear liquid again and again.

                                I use Odorless Mineral Spirits as my wash-up solvent. It’s been working well for years.

                                wfmartin. My Blog "Creative Realism"...
                                https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com

                                #1157175
                                domindart
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                                    That brings a great follow up question, WF, thanks! What kind of solvent do people here use? I would like to find something inexpensive, but I want it to be a good solvent. Ill have to check the prices of Mineral Spirits. I know that its a common household item.

                                    Also, where do you get a jar w a screen at the bottom?

                                    #1157165
                                    WFMartin
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                                        That brings a great follow up question, WF, thanks! What kind of solvent do people here use? I would like to find something inexpensive, but I want it to be a good solvent. Ill have to check the prices of Mineral Spirits. I know that its a common household item.

                                        Also, where do you get a jar w a screen at the bottom?

                                        I use Mona Lisa Mineral Spirits, or as it is called on its label, “Mona Lisa Odorless Thinner”. Not terribly expensive, very low odor, and with my ability to re-use it, very economical. Most hardware stuff smells, but this doesn’t.

                                        I use a coffee can with a piece of molded hardware cloth at the bottom. I cut a piece of hardware cloth in a circle, just about a half inch larger than the circumference of the can, and then I bent the edges of it down to form “legs” about 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch deep. It keeps the screen off the bottom of the can, allowing the sediment to collect beneath the screen. One screen has lasted me about 15 years, with a bit of chipping off the collected grit once in awhile.

                                        Hardware cloth is available at most hardware stores, and it is like “chicken wire”, only much more dense in its weave, and it woven in little squares, about 1/2 inch square.

                                        wfmartin. My Blog "Creative Realism"...
                                        https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com

                                        #1157170
                                        Ron Francis
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                                            I use garden variety mineral spirits for washing brushes, and OMS in my medium.

                                            My system is a little similar to Bill’s.
                                            I use two smallish plastic buckets (5 1/2″ mouth), one inside the other, with a matrix of holes drilled in the bottom of the inside bucket.
                                            This leaves around 1/2″ at the bottom for sediment, and the holes acts like a grid for wiping the brushes against.

                                            By the time the solvent has evaporated enough to need re-filling, it is too fatty to reuse, so I store it in a 20 litre (5 gallon) container.
                                            Probably once a year I will take this to the local hazardous waste disposal.

                                            Ron
                                            www.RonaldFrancis.com

                                            #1157176
                                            domindart
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                                                I dont know what IM doing…. so far I spilled like…..2 of my cups of terpenoid! I need a studio badly.

                                                #1157167

                                                Studio won’t stop you spilling the terps, domindart, lol!

                                                I also reuse my oms continuously by rotating the used through a couple differant jars to settle and be poured off into. I never throw it out as I tend to go through it fast enough to keep it from becoming too saturated with oils. I use a 4″ tunafish can as my wash can. They are heavy weight tins with a corrugated bottom that works very well like a brush coil to clean brushes against. PS, if you do ever have to dispose of liquid solvents, never, ever pour them down the drains/sewer systems! It is best to soak it up in an old rag and seal in a plastic bag or tub to dispose in the trash. Another method of disposal is to set in in a wide top container outdoors in a safe place and let it evaporate.

                                                I just buy the odorless mineral spirits from the hardward store. It is a bit more smelly than the art quality stuff if you use a lot of it, but, just can’t beat the price! :wink2: Oh, and don’t make my mistake of buying the Eco friendly oms! It is milky white and thick. It works quite well to clean brushes, but, you don’t want to mix it into your paints, and, it can not be reused/recycled like regular oms as paint solids don’t settle out of it…stays dirty! :rolleyes:

                                                [FONT="Tahoma"]EquiArt-n-More ... Stylistic Realism in Oils[/I][/B]

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                                                #1157173
                                                Painter4life
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                                                    Okay here is what I do, and I have had the saame gallon of turpinoid for over three years. I have a glass jar with turp. in it and pour some into a empty tuna fish can…use it getting little paint in the turp, by dipping the brush not touching the bottom…then wipping the brush on rags…then dip it again. When I am done for the day I pour the turp. into the glass jar and let it sit until tomorrow…after a few weeks, I may change the glass jar throwing out the old one with all the settled pigments away. and every so often I change my tuna can as well….Turp. lasts a very long time when you care for it, and dont use it like you were dipping the brush into water as with water color. This is just what I do and it works for me….I clean my brushes by using tepid water and Dawn Dish soap….rubbing them in my palm until the foam is white. Then every 4th time I use the B& J master cleaner bar in a compact sold by Blick…to condition the brushes…I have had some brushes 7 years….Seems to make them last longer, and this works of me…Just my Opinion

                                                    #1157177
                                                    domindart
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                                                        so far Im keeping it simple and just using terp till it spills lol, but I want to get some hardware cloth and fashion it for the bottom of my cups…

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