Oil of Spike Lavender – Tad Spurgeon pulls no punches

[plnelson]

You might take a look at D-Limonene. I find the smell overpowering but I’ve tried it as an oil-paint solvent and it works. (Grumbacher sells it as Grumtine) It’s used as a food-additive and it’s sold as a solvent to painters – who woulda thunk it? Here’s an abstract on PubMed:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30075315

[Gigalot]

Please take the solvent-free discussion into the solvent-free thread. It is off-topic here.

There are lots of solventofobers, but I guess, some artists are solventlovers too!

[WFMartin]

You might take a look at D-Limonene. I find the smell overpowering but I’ve tried it as an oil-paint solvent and it works. (Grumbacher sells it as Grumtine) It’s used as a food-additive and it’s sold as a solvent to painters – who woulda thunk it? Here’s an abstract on PubMed:
[URL=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30075315]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30075315[/URL]

Now, THAT is an insecticide !

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

[AnnieA]

Some kind of truth is a rubbery product of contemporary propaganda, it has elongation properties and depends of public opinion, formulated by using mass media impacts. But I think, nobody still tried to use Spike Lavender solvent in politics .

Alex, you’ve outdone yourself there!

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[contumacious]

Alex, you’ve outdone yourself there!

Agreed!

It is weird to see one of my own posts dragged up from July of last year. I was starting to type a rebuttal, but then I realized I had started the thread!

[AnnieA]

Agreed!

It is weird to see one of my own posts dragged up from July of last year. I was starting to type a rebuttal, but then I realized I had started the thread!

Too funny!

My response to the differing opinions on solvents is to try to paint solvent free as much as possible. I just received my bottle of Sennelier Green for Oil thinner, which I’ll post a thread about as soon as I’ve had a chance to spend some time using it. I’m also going to go ahead and use spike lavender when it seems helpful. I love the scent of it and find it less bothersome than OMS. After all, it’s also used in perfumes, and I used to use those without issue (at least I think so!).

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[contumacious]

Too funny!

My response to the differing opinions on solvents is to try to paint solvent free as much as possible. I just received my bottle of Sennelier Green for Oil thinner, which I’ll post a thread about as soon as I’ve had a chance to spend some time using it. I’m also going to go ahead and use spike lavender when it seems helpful. I love the scent of it and find it less bothersome than OMS. After all, it’s also used in perfumes, and I used to use those without issue (at least I think so!).

I am anxious to see your comments on the Sennelier Green! (My apologies to the OP for going off topic!

On the perfumes, my guess is they are using Lavender oil not oil of spike solvent. Lavender oil is a very common ingredient in perfumes and has been for centuries if not millennia. Though, I am never surprised anymore as to what goes into things we buy.

This page talks about the two kinds of Lavender essential oils. Neither one of them is the same as Oil of Spike Lavender Solvent, which is a highly concentrated substance, not suitable for lotions / makeup / perfume. Maybe for some kind of a liniment similar to camphor oil products. It can be an extreme skin irritant for a large segment of the population. My skin burns if I leave it on there too long.

https://blog.aromahead.com/2016/04/18/lavender-spike-lavender-difference

[plnelson]

I am anxious to see your comments on the Sennelier Green! (My apologies to the OP for going off topic!
[/url]

We’ve had several threads about Sennelier Green and basically it’s all speculation – no one seems to know what it actually is. The claims they make are pretty wild – it’s a “naturally sourced” and “safe” solvent made from “bio-mass”. Turpentine is naturally sourced and made from bio-mass, too, but it’s far from safe. Presumably snake oil is naturally sourced, also.

[Raffless]

Too funny!

My response to the differing opinions on solvents is to try to paint solvent free as much as possible. I just received my bottle of Sennelier Green for Oil thinner, which I’ll post a thread about as soon as I’ve had a chance to spend some time using it. I’m also going to go ahead and use spike lavender when it seems helpful. I love the scent of it and find it less bothersome than OMS. After all, it’s also used in perfumes, and I used to use those without issue (at least I think so!).

I think you’ll love it. Youll be able to do cityscapes loosely and have no toxic smells. I found for Alla Prima its fantastic. Im currently using Gamsol and Stand oil mixed together whch i love too. Its also good for Aronson type stuff.!

[AnnieA]

I am anxious to see your comments on the Sennelier Green! (My apologies to the OP for going off topic!

On the perfumes, my guess is they are using Lavender oil not oil of spike solvent. Lavender oil is a very common ingredient in perfumes and has been for centuries if not millennia. Though, I am never surprised anymore as to what goes into things we buy.

This page talks about the two kinds of Lavender essential oils. Neither one of them is the same as Oil of Spike Lavender Solvent, which is a highly concentrated substance, not suitable for lotions / makeup / perfume. Maybe for some kind of a liniment similar to camphor oil products. It can be an extreme skin irritant for a large segment of the population. My skin burns if I leave it on there too long.

[url]https://blog.aromahead.com/2016/04/18/lavender-spike-lavender-difference[/url]

I’m really looking forward to trying out the Green for Oil thinner and as I said, I’ll let everyone know how it seems to work as soon as I can. I am concerned about the lack of solid info on what it contains.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned perfume (although in all honestly, I used to put a touch of Spike Lavender on my wrists when going out someplace special, so that should count), but I know it’s used in aromatherapy and massage, and has been for a long time. None of that’s scientific, I know, but I don’t use it a lot anyway, so I’m not worried that much.

We’ve had several threads about Sennelier Green and basically it’s all speculation – no one seems to know what it actually is. The claims they make are pretty wild – it’s a “naturally sourced” and “safe” solvent made from “bio-mass”. Turpentine is naturally sourced and made from bio-mass, too, but it’s far from safe. Presumably snake oil is naturally sourced, also.

pinelson, you’re right about the lack of good info from Sennelier, so I guess I’m taking a leap of faith. I can say that I don’t really notice any odor from it (although I’ve had a cold lately, so I’ll have to try the sniff test again when I’ve recovered!) and that seems to be a good sign. The thing is, I know OMS bothers me, and I don’t think, from the little info they provide, that the Sennelier product would be more toxic than that.

I think you’ll love it. Youll be able to do cityscapes loosely and have no toxic smells. I found for Alla Prima its fantastic. Im currently using Gamsol and Stand oil mixed together whch i love too. Its also good for Aronson type stuff.!

Raffless, good to hear! That’s exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks! And Aronson is a favorite of mine, although it’s hard to imagine that – even with a new medium – that my work will ever approach the extraordinary wonderfulness of his.

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[Maester]

The missing factor in this discussion is that one only needs to use very small amounts of genuine Oil of Spike Lavender to get the job done. The Art Treehouse Oil of Spike Lavender is an outstanding product and comes with a teardrop top. One does not slop it around like OMS—it is therefore considerable safer from the get go. Love Tad, love his book and he is right about Chelsea’s product, i.e., it is not real Oil of Spike Lavender. https://arttreehouse.com/

[Maester]

Sennelier’s Green— soy methyl ester
solvent is the “green” choice for
solvents. Most of the Bio-based solvents are made from soy methyl esters. Soybeans, i.e., the Miracle bean. Sennelier choose Green for their name and Michael Harding choose Miracle. In general most painters do not know how to use is. It is powerful stuff and a little goes a long way. We are taking very little! Obviously Oil Paint Manufacturers do not want you to know about it because for many OMS is a cash cow.

[Tony11214]

Hi, Any volatile solvent is dangerous and even toxic when there is a high concentration of vapors (aka fume) in the air you breath.

The one solvent that scares me the most is “Odorless Mineral Spirits”.  If the vapors are less detectable, then a person may be breathing high concentrations of it without knowing it.  I won’t buy it, or even consider using it.

[ppeace]

Maester, I thought oil of spike lavender like the ones offered in the price category that Arttreehouse’s product would always be suspect because genuine spike lavender costs more that that.

Did I read it wrong?

[DebWDC]

Tony, what you write is true, but is not the complete story.  Yes, one should reduce exposure by using the minimum and having ventilation. You have made claims, based I think on logic, but with no evidence. What you write may mislead readers.

There are documented differences in permissible exposure levels – PEL – of different solvents. Turpentine is 5 times as hazardous as mineral spirits. There is a lot of occupational hazard research on this stuff. The more hazardous the substance, the lower the PEL. In some cases, the lack of smell is because the smelly chemical components, which are the more hazardous, are removed by refining.

I personally am sensitized to turpentine but can use mineral spirits or odorless mineral spirits with ventilation, and have no reaction to them.

Turpentine permissible exposure level: 100 PPM

Mineral spirits (Stoddard solvent) permissible exposure level: 500 ppm

TURPENTINE | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)

STODDARD SOLVENT | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)

[Author]

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