Safe oil painting - need input please

allegra · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Sydney, NSW

Hi all,
I usually work in acrylic but feel the need to work in oil again - however i currently have a very small (hopefully temporary) work area and am now very conscious of health issues with oil paint - I also have sensitive airways. Would appreciate some recommendations of working safely in a small space and what type of products to use, especially safe solvents etc. How do you rate water soluble oil?

Appreciate your comments thank you all

Allegra Very Happy

art8dave · Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 1333 Location: Sydney

Hello Allegra,

Yes, good ventilation is the key when working with oils/solvents.

I would approach a good art supply store, like Parkers in the Rocks and ask advice.... I understand there are a number of alternatives to having turps in the studio....

One that I have heard of is Spike lavender oil, though I have had no first hand experience....
I got this off a web site "Spike oil is a natural, non-toxic substitute for turpentine. It can be used as a solvent for oil painting and in egg-oil emulsion tempera recipes. Spike oil improves the handling of oil-based paints, because it promotes oxidation instead of simply evaporating like most solvents."

Although old habits die hard, I still use a little gum turps in painting and mineral turps for cleaning up.
Just be aware that the products that promote themselves as odorless still have high levels of solvents in them.

Tango · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 1360 Location: Melbourne

Hi Allegra I think you should give the water mixable oils a try first, I thought about trying them but I would have to remember to keep them separate from the other solvent mixing oil tubes, because if you start mixing the different types ( which you can ) you have to use solvents instead of water, so if you are goining to use them buy them first ...the Winsor & Newton Artisan water mixable oils are artist quality so they should be OK .
At the moment I am using Archival Odourless Solvent which is supposed to be 48 times less toxic than turpentine because its evaporation rate is only a sixteeth of turpentine, the down side of that is its slower drying rate, I hope this means that it is killing me slower as well Rolling Eyes

AvG · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1912

Rick Amor washes his paint brushes in linseed oil which is not toxic - has a jar of linseed oil that he puts his dirty brushes in while he works, wipes them off on a rag and then washes with soap and water.
Or you can use Dissolve, Safe Clean Up or similar to get the pigment off your burshes before washing in soap and water (this is what I do).

There is Odourless solvent as Tango suggests.

Langridge have a few great products in this area - Safe Gel which is a very low toxicity Gel Medium (I love this one) and Odourless Painting Medium. You can find their products in lots of places, Parkers and The Sydney Art Store should both stock the range.

And of course water mixable oils that can be cleaned up in water. These aren't water based but the oil has been treated to make it mix with water for eay clean up and working without solvents.

Best of luck finding something that suits.