Home › Forums › The Learning Center › Color Theory and Mixing › Are linseed oil and flaxseed oil the same thing?
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February 6, 2018 at 1:37 am #450854
I was watching a youtube about how to make your own linseed oil.
It said to start with brown flaxseeds and crank it through the oil-making machine.
Then it went on to talk about washing it with salt and sand, removing the gunk, and then putting it in a window for a year to get nice and clear.
It looked like a good idea, but I didn’t want save money on linseed oil by spending a couple hundred dollars on a oil-cranker. (They sell the brown flaxseeds in the bulk section at Winco.)
Can I buy 100% pure flaxseed oil at the health food stores and have it do the same thing as linseed oil for oil painting?
(I am planning on doing the de-gunkification process with the salt and sand.)
What do you think?
C&C always welcome.
http://www.carolynspaintblog.blogspot.com/February 6, 2018 at 3:30 am #560668They are the same plant. or at least the same species. There might be varieties specifically engineered for one thing or other although.
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February 6, 2018 at 4:57 am #560666Linseed and flaxseed mean one and the same thing.
February 6, 2018 at 1:25 pm #560669NO. Explanation:
“Linseed oil” is a term generally used to mean a component of certain kinds of paint, and other industrial uses. You can buy it in bottles at an at supply store, or in gallon cans at a hardware store.
“Flaxseed oil” is a term generally used to mean an edible cooking and salad oil. You can buy it by the quart in grocery stores, particularly the kind that primarily deal in organic and specialty foods.
Both of them are, originally, the seed oil of the flax plant (its fibers make the cloth known as linen). Minimally processed, the oil is edible but prone to spoilage, and does not have a particularly nice taste. It can also be used in paint.
When further processed, “linseed oil” is optimized for paint, and may have additional ingredients for that purpose. “Flaxseed oil” is optimized for food, and has some natural contaminants removed, to improve shelf life and taste.
Now, that’s usage in the U.S.A. May be different elsewhere. Bottom line, regardless of name: If it’s not sold in a grocery store next to bottles of olive oil, don’t use it for cooking or salads. And if it’s not sold in an art supply store or hardware store next to solvents, don’t use it for paint.
February 6, 2018 at 1:36 pm #560665I have some flaxseed oil in capsules for oral consumption. I have tried to use it as a wood finish, and it dries so slowly that I don’t think it would be suitable as a painting medium.
C&C is welcome.
RichardFebruary 6, 2018 at 5:23 pm #560670I have some flaxseed oil in capsules for oral consumption. I have tried to use it as a wood finish, and it dries so slowly that I don’t think it would be suitable as a painting medium.
I would assume that oil capsules have a lot of anti-oxidants added, so that the oil does not covert to an indigestible polymer over a period of time. A quick search found this page, which I assume is representative of the technology.
Bottled salad oil probably has anti-oxidants added, but if the oil congealed in the bottle, you’d throw it out. You wouldn’t notice, if the oil is inside a capsule.
On the other hand, drying oils do not dry quickly without a catalyst. The most commonly-used catalysts involve divalent metal compounds (such as the famous cobalt driers). That kind of stuff is not good for your health, and certainly shouldn’t be found in products intended for the natural foods and dietary supplement markets.
Now, if you merely desire to use food-grade flaxseed oil as a cleaner for oil painting brushes, I think that should be OK. I do that with safflower oil. It works well, and I presume that any trace contaminant left in the brushes won’t have much effect on later paint. Since the food-grade oil is not intended for fast curing, I am not concerned about leaving the brushes for a short while before I finish with soap and warm water.
February 7, 2018 at 6:59 am #560667AnonymousThe oils are the same thing but the flax name often refers more to the fiber and linseed is usually the oil. Food products are an exception as they more often use the name flax seed oil instead of linseed oil. The food oil is not processed the same and may contain anti oxidants, where as the paint oil is more processed and doesn’t contain anti oxidants.
There are variations in the plant from which flax fiber and linseed oil are derived.
The flax plant used for producing fibers is a taller plant (about 3 feet) with less branches and less seeds than the variant used for linseed oil. It produces more and longer fibers.
The flax plant that is used for producing oil is a shorter plant (about 18 inches tall) with many more branches and pods with lots of seeds, thus producing lots more oil.Can I buy 100% pure flaxseed oil at the health food stores and have it do the same thing as linseed oil for oil painting
yes but I would still test it for drying rate.
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