Odorless solvent

[Patricia Joyce]

I am posting prematurely because I need to confirm the details with my friend and artist Larry Leach. he is a very wonderful landscape artists who also is an artist who represents Winsor and Newton. and he has been teaching and painting for over thirty years.

but until I hear back from him, this is what I remember him saying at his workshops. Turpentine and Turpenoid are no different. Our bodies absorb the fumes at the same percentages, it just that they have treated turpenoid so that it does not smell. This does not nimimize the harm it does to our bodies.

Gamsol is difference and this is where I want to get the right information for you. All I know is that the percentage of what we absorb from Gamsol is minimul compared to Turps. In many art colleges in this country Gamsol is the only solvent they allow in the studios.

Personally, I have been taught by Marvin that one only needs refined linseed oil, as the old masters used. It is natural, will not break down the oil paint and is a very good paint thinner (though if you use too much you will discover you can't work with the paint - it is a delicate balance). Marvin NEVER used solvents and his thin layers are quite thin! As for cleaning the brushes Marvin goes so far as to clean them with only walnut oil, which is quite expensive. I started to clean my brushes this way but found I could not afford the walnut oil for this purpose. So I do hold my breath and clean them with solvents, when wash them out with soap and water.

I hope this helps a bit. I will dig through my notes if I do not hear from Larry and get you more scientific information.

[Richard Bingham]

Originally Posted by Patricia Joyce

. . . I will dig through my notes if I do not hear from Larry and get you more scientific information.

Wonderful. I await with baited breath. (just ate an anchovy)

[Patricia Joyce]

"100% odourless mineral spirits (OMS) developed by Gamblin, for use with thinning Gamblin mediums and other general painting methods including studio and brush clean up. Having removed the harmful aromatic components in mineral spirits, odourless mineral spirits are safer to use, though adequate ventilation is still required. Gamsol has a "permissible exposure level" (PEL) of 300ppm (the higher the PEL, the safer the solvent) compared with turpentine which has a PEL of 100ppm. Gamsol cannot dissolve damar or other natural resins." - Gamblin

Gamsol is made by Gamblen and can be ordered from them or Ultrecht's carries it. Thisis exactly what Larry explained to us in class. What a big difference, huh?

OK , Richard, you can brush your teeth now!!

[Richard Bingham]

Reading comprehension is always a difficulty when threads on a forum extend tail-male to some length like this one. Regarding "PELS" it would be foolish to press the safe limits of exposure to any material. Safety in the studio demands adequate ventilation it's that simple. Painting in oils just plainly does not require using an amount that would even begin to approach PEL, with the solvents commonly available for use.

A major "problem" with statements about "turpentine" (and other materials) is what I outlined earlier. While most materials are identified by a generic name, invariably one encounters a widely varying range of quality and composition dependent on origin and process. Rather as one can generically identify an "automobile" . . . no one expects a Chevy Geo to have features identical to a Ferrari, nor would they expect to pay the same for either. The same range of possible qualities and permutations obtain whether one is interested in petroleum distillate solvents or turpentine.

With all due respect for Gamblin's marketing and PR department, one may either believe or disbelieve that their operation actually entails all the extensive equipment and processes for the fractional distillation of petroleum derivatives. I guess that's OK . . . I usually tend to believe what people tell me . . . and I believe in Santa Claus, too! (I'm a little "iffy" on the tooth-fiary, though.)

Merry Christmas (Hey! I got a new toothbrush! Is that kewl, or what?)

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Richard always recommeds us to not "eat" our studio material, but in this case it is not possible to not breath them. I like walnut oil very much, but that is more expensive than usual solvents and adds to the drying, some guys like it, others don't.

[Richard Bingham]

Originally Posted by Claudemir Bonfim

Richard always recommeds us to not "eat" our studio material, but in this case it is not possible to not breath them.

Ha, ha, right you are, Bonfim! Actually, it certainly is possible not to breath what evaporates from studio solvents. First off, good technique precludes using so much that it becomes a problem in a "normal" studio setting. You just simply should not have your palette or your work-piece awash in solvent. Secondly, how much care is required to keep all containers closed up? Leaving open containers of solvents around the studio is "asking for it". Third, cleaning brushes is probably the single operation which will emit the most vapor. If you have a sensitivity, or your studio is small, confined, and poorly ventilated, do it outside. Finally, don't paint in a small, confined, poorly ventilated space. Properly managed, your chances of inhaling more troublesome toxins on a busy city street are far greater than poisoning yourself in your own studio. Merry Christmas!