I’m starting this thread by incorporating the posts from another thread first:

Hi My name is Chris and I’m thinking of experimenting again with WM oils. The paintings below are primarily wm w wm medium. These were posted previously in the oil forum. I’ve since tried using wm with walnut oil as it is easy on the allergies and basically odorless. (Straight linseed oil makes me a little nauseous.) Thinking of ordering a product called Zest It which is a citrus based thinner and requires no ventilation and is safe.
Thanks for starting this sub forum!

Let us know if you find a source in the U.S. So far, I haven’t.

Hey Shirl. I just emailed Zest It directly to inquire about shipping abroad or if they know of any North American distributors. I’ll post their response once received.

Hey Shirl and everyone. Zest It, a company that makes a citrus based thinner, responded to my inquiry.
Here is the response:

[COLOR=#000][FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif]”Hi Chris,

Thanks for your email.

Yes we ship to the United States, we ship all over the world. We offer a variety of shipping options as we know shipping costs can be expensive.

If it helps, you can select US Dollar as the currency on our site, to give you an approximate price of the costs. It’s down the bottom of the right hand column.

We are working at getting more worldwide distributors, we currently have Holland, Cyprus, France & Germany and soon to be South Africa – You can keep up to date by looking at our stockist list [URL]http://www.zest-it.com/stockist.htm[/URL]

Hope this helps,
do not hesitate if you have further questions,

Kind regards,
Tracey
J&T Blackman

Our Online J & T’s Art and Calligraphy eShop
[URL=http://www.jandtblackman.ltd.uk]www.jandtblackman.ltd.uk[/URL]

Zest-it Art Products Online
[URL=http://www.zest-itartproducts.co.uk]www.zest-itartproducts.co.uk[/URL]

Our other websites
[URL=http://www.zest-it.com]www.zest-it.com[/URL]
[URL=http://www.jacquiblackman.co.uk]www.jacquiblackman.co.uk[/URL]
[URL=http://www.penandinkability.com]www.penandinkability.com[/URL]
[URL=http://www.zest-it.biz]www.zest-it.biz[/URL]

J and T Blackman Ltd t/a Zest-it is a company registered in England and Wales
Company Number 4165160 Vat Reg. 770234839

On 7 Aug 2009, at 04:03, Chris Vasil wrote:

>
> Hi. Do you ship to the United States? If no, do you have a supplier > in the US? I ‘ve encountered several painters with allergies and/or > inadaquate studio ventilation who are interested in trying Zest It > as a thinner. Thanks. Chris V.
>

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Good work on the Zest-It [B]Chris[/B]. I’ve sent an email asking how to use the $ converter. Using my own converter, everything is about double the cost stated in pounds, when converted to US $. The cost of shipping is greater than the cost of the product in the smallest size so I’m going to order a larger size to be sure I don’t have to do it again soon…

Chris, there may be another product worth looking into – Goo Gone, which is available in US at places like O’Reilly’s and AutoZone. I just checked my local O’Reilly’s and they have 8 oz bottle for $2.29. And this morning I ordered Zest It for more like $20.:eek:

Thanks Shirl. Sorry you got creamed with the shipping charges. Is Goo Gone just for brush cleaning or do you think you can use it as a painting solvent like liquin or turps to paint thin initial washes? Thanks

The shipping charges were not that bad, just in comparison to the cost of the product.

Goo Gone is also a citrus product, used over in the Colored Pencil Forum as a solvent. We’ll see how it crosses over to wmoils.

Can you use Goo-Gone in place of Zest-It as a blender?

I’ve been reviewing all the info on Zest-It and have contemplated ordering it. If Goo-Gone works just as effectively for blending, it would save a ton of money (and time) using it instead.

Please let me know if I understood this.