Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting The Technical Forum Is there such thing of a less smelling turpentine..???

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  • #989011
    skopas
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        I’ve incorporated some W/N Distilled Turps into my medium, and that stuff smells so strong my throat feels a bit irritated. Is there such thing of a less smelling turps?? Perhaps one that is still more natural than distilled. I wonder how the masters of old could tolerate the smell.

        Btw….Utrecht sells a pure gum turpentine, maybe that don’t smell so strong..:eek:

        any ideas..?? thanks guys.

        "Pops, you want to know something..? Your a great guy". (It's a wonderful life)

        #1147030
        rkcim
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            I just use OMS from Klean Strip it doesn’t smell until paint mixes with it, like cleaning your brushes. I also use it with Galkd Lite medium, mixed 50/50 with OMS no strong smells.

            ~Kirby:thumbsup:

            #1147010
            Anonymous

                Sorry, I can tell you is this, Winsor Newton Distilled is the mildest least harsh smelling turpentine I have ever encountered in 50 some odd years now.

                #1147024
                lovin art
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                    oms. is what your refereing to I think , its called odourless Mineral turps , its less odour , but just as harmful as it counterpart you still need very good Ventilation , and common sense when using these products …. hope this helps out…

                    http://www.cometchemical.com/MSDS/Odourless.pdf

                    #1147021
                    skopas
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                        THanks everyone for help and ideas. I use Gamsol for my rinse and this new medium with turps in it, which is awesome,…..just luve it. Though, the smell is the nego counterpart. I guess I will be painting with the window full blown open, never have until today…:) Gamsol is so oderless you have to have it right in front of your nose to get a good whiff of it.

                        "Pops, you want to know something..? Your a great guy". (It's a wonderful life)

                        #1147016
                        Ron Francis
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                            Scopas,
                            If your medium doesn’t contain natural resin, you can substitute the turpentine with Gamsol.
                            It will behave a little differently in that the solvent will take longer to evaporate from the canvas but much the same otherwise.

                            Ron
                            www.RonaldFrancis.com

                            #1147011
                            Anonymous

                                Ok, the thread title and question was, “is there a less smelling turpentine”. OMS is not turpentine. they can be used the same in some ways but as Ron said, not in others. If no odor at all is desired then one (it is only one) alternative is to use water and water mixable oils.
                                BTW, IMO Utrecht brand smells moreso than Winsor Newton brand.

                                #1147004
                                karenlee
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                                    I humbly disagree– water miscible oils are not the only alternative. There is walnut oil, which can be used instead of a linseed oil/turps mixture. Walnut oil is runnier than linseed oil, so it doesn’t need to be thinned down with turp or OMS. There is also alkyd walnut oil. I use M. Graham walnut oil, and no turps at all- just Lava soap & water for washup.

                                    #1147012
                                    Anonymous

                                        Please reread my post Karenlee, I did not say that WMO’s were the only alternative, I wrote that they are one alternative and then further qualified it as being only one alternative to using turpentine, thus meaning that there are numerous other alternatives.
                                        I also use regular linseed oil based paints with only water and ivory soap to clean up with.

                                        Again the topic originally was, “is there a less smelling turpentine? ” in particular, Winsor Newton Distilled Turpentine was the brand in question.

                                        Another question, not asked yet , but it is being answered, “are there alternatives to using turpentine?”
                                        I would say there are numerous alternatives to using turpentine in painting.
                                        Some mediums that contain resins may require the use of a strong solvent such as turpentine or Grumtine (d-limonene) in order to dissove the resin, OMS will most often not be a strong enough solvent.

                                        #1147025
                                        lovin art
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                                            OMS is not turpentine

                                            Helloooo:confused: , Im totally confused here now:confused: , I thought oms was a turps , and there is more then one brand to consider, sorry for trying to help I thought I was , but I guess not …

                                            #1147032
                                            Oilartnelson
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                                                OMS is not turpentine. I am going to have to check out where that comes from. I only use that to clean my brushes.

                                                As I have been told, turpentine comes from pine resin that has been dissolved in alcohol, which is slowly boiled into a steam essence. It is that essence, that is the Turpentine!

                                                I think it is almost like the way that alcohol spirit makers create vodka, etc. Imagine the mash being the pine resin and the alcohol being the water heated up, and the steam from the heated mash draining down tubes into jars.

                                                If someone knows more about the distilled version of Turpentine, I would like to know. I would think, just a further distillation of the essence down more tubes to create a stronger solvent. Maybe?

                                                As far as getting rid of the odor, I made a statement about that in putting a couple drops of “Clover Oil” into the Turpentine. This may help, though I’m not sure how it would effect the medium. Most likely not too bad, as just a few drops helps. One thing I did forget to mention is that “Orange, or Lemon Oils” with just a few drops can help as well, though I doubt nearly as much as Clover oil.

                                                "Just remember that the object of painting pictures is not simply to get them in exhibitions." Robert Henri
                                                ~Jeff~

                                                #1147013
                                                Anonymous

                                                    Hi Sandra, not to worry, you were helping. It is just being more technically accurate to understand that they are different and will have different properties such as smell, dissolving power, evaporation rate, etc.
                                                    For painting purposes and dissolving oil paints, they are similar in nature, both being oil solvents.
                                                    Mineral spirits, including the more refined Odorless mineral spirits, are produced from petroleum.
                                                    Turpentine is made from coniferous trees such as pine trees.
                                                    They are composed of different organic compounds from each other.
                                                    Both are used as solvents for painting purposes.
                                                    Turpentine is generally the more powerful smelling and so mineral spirits are often refered to as a “turpentine substitute” for those that want to use it instead of turpentine to avoid the smell, etc.
                                                    Now some call mineral spirits “mineral turps” or “mineral turpentine” or “turpenoid” but in reality, that is not correct and confuses matters for those that just want to paint and not take some organic chemistry course (like I did, 40 years ago:lol: )

                                                    #1147026
                                                    lovin art
                                                    Default

                                                        Hi Sandra, not to worry, you were helping. It is just being more technically accurate to understand that they are different and will have different properties such as smell, dissolving power, evaporation rate, etc.

                                                        Hia Sid , Im glad you wrote that because I was confused by that , and thought I was just helping but it was not the case, your words are reasuring in that now I understand the difference between them , as you have just explained it to me , Im sorry and in future wont go shootin my mouth off unless I know the facts to be just that ~ so now I gota be a rocket Science lab girl too eh!!! :D

                                                        Thankyou Oily Boy for helping me understand that more…

                                                        #1147033
                                                        Oilartnelson
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                                                            Did I say Clover Oil? haha:eek: I meant, Clove oil!

                                                            Anyhow, thanks Sid! One thing I do love about the nature of oil art, is the chemistry of it all. Sometimes it is nice to just grab a brush and get going, though there are so many times when I really feel like I need to know what is going on with the mediums, solvents, etc.

                                                            I’m not a huge fan of Dali, though one thing I remember him saying in a book I read was that he would give a million dollars to be able to peek over the shoulder of Rubens or Rembrandt to see just exactly how many drops of this or that they were using to make their mediums. And from what I have read, he use to count his drops! Wow!:eek:

                                                            "Just remember that the object of painting pictures is not simply to get them in exhibitions." Robert Henri
                                                            ~Jeff~

                                                            #1147017
                                                            Ron Francis
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                                                                Sandra,
                                                                This also confused me for quite a while, and for good reason.

                                                                What we in Australia call ‘turpentine’ (turps) is called ‘mineral spirits’ in the US. It is also called ‘white spirit”.
                                                                We also call it ‘mineral turpentine’ here and that is what it should have on the label.
                                                                It is a petroleum distillate and OMS is a further distillation of it.

                                                                What we buy at art supplies is called ‘gum turpentine’ and in the US it is simply called ‘turpentine’. As already stated above, it comes from pine trees.

                                                                I don’t know what turbenoid is, but according to my information it is not mineral spirits, is not a true solvent and does not evaporate fully.

                                                                Just a bit about safety.
                                                                Permissable Exposure Level (PEL) is measured in parts per million.
                                                                The higher the number the safer the product.
                                                                From the information I have in front of me:

                                                                Distilled Turpentine (gum turpentine) 100 ppm
                                                                OMS (general) 200 ppm
                                                                Mineral Spirits (mineral turpentine) 120 – 200 ppm
                                                                Turpenoid (not available)
                                                                D-limonine 30 ppm (suspected of being harmful to kidney and liver)

                                                                As you are living in AUS, I would recommend Langridge odourless solvent.
                                                                It is rated at 1000 ppm, 10 times safer than turpentine.
                                                                I suspect that Gamsol has numbers something like that but I haven’t seen the data.

                                                                Personally, I use OMS in my medium and mineral spirits to clean brushes.
                                                                (There is a lot more evaporation from the surface of the canvas because of the large surface area.)

                                                                Ron
                                                                www.RonaldFrancis.com

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