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Originally Posted by Marvin Mattelson
. . . I try my darnedest to avoid turpentine in the studio for toxicity reasons . . .
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Hailing as I do from ancient times when common liniments (specifically Dr. Sloan's and Absorbine Jr.) contained turpentine and a spoonful of turps was not an uncommon "cure" for kids with pinworms, it's hard for me to view it in the same light as nuclear waste and DDT. Triple distilled turpentine is used by the cosmetics industry in the production of milady's makeups, powders and nostrums, and by other makers of such things as "pine fresh"cleaning compounds and air fresheners.
Combined with linseed oil in paints, turpentine produces reactions which improve drying and film strength. MS does not. Turpentine is sovereign for compounding various resin varnishes. When MS is substituted, cloudy mixtures result.
All this aside, perhaps issues of "toxicity" which so concern us lately have more to do with the fact that the "turps"commonly available now is
not at all good stuff?
"Pure gum spirits of turpentine" is the sap of living conifers tapped for the "turpentine" which is then distilled for the "pure spirits", leaving rosin, colophony and pitch as by-products. Today's hardware/paint store turpentine is a vile liquid produced by crushing stumps, limbs and other forest waste into a mash, then steam-cooking it. Reeking of creosote as it does, it would be well to avoid using this poor-quality, nasty solvent for any purpose. Good turpentine smells like a pine forest after a rainstorm, and it's still available (though costly).
As with all organic solvents, including the various "-oids" and "-sols" and "-tines" marketed just especially for us arteestes (!) citrus oil terpenes and MS, (both "stinky" and odorless) common sense dictates one should not leave open containers of solvent lying about, nor should one swim in it, or ingest it.