Better to change than this to happen...!
 

;) You're cute, Marcus!
No, problem. Situation under control.

Thanks for the great cartoon! I'm going to see if I can print it out and put it on my studio wall.

You're most welcome...heeheehee
 

Glad to be "of service"...lol

Eco-House NeutralThin Odourless Thinner
 

I had a painting teacher who insisted we all paint with acrylics because he was "allergic" to turpentine.

"What about odorless turpentine?"

"Nope. It still stinks."

As I have been trying to learn to paint in oils, nuances and all, I didn't want to have to interupt the process to learn to paint in acrylic. Not knowing about being able to use oils - walnut, or olive - to clean my brushes until just this moment, I set out to the art supply store hoping to find something to solve my dilemna. What I found was "Eco-House Natural Chemistry Products - NeutralThin Odourless Thinner - A Healthy Home Product - Hypo-allergenic Formula."

This stuff really is odorless and it cleans my brushes really well. In fact, it restored a couple brushes I thought for sure were dead. My teacher did not have any problems with it and being as my studio is in my house, I love it that I'm no longer stinking up the place.

It is flammable. The label says, "Odourless, low-toxicity thinner and brush cleaner for thinning and clean-up of oil-based paints, oils and waxes. 100% volatile.

Suitable as a painting medium ingredient for most artist's oil paints, except products containing damar resin. Mixable with Eco-House # 915 Natural Orange Terpene Solvent in any ratio. Also excellent for degreasing metal parts.

Low risk of allergic reaction. Use only in areas with adequate ventillation. Do not discard in septic or sewer system, but filter and reuse until totally evaporated. Photodegradable.

Combustible at 122 degrees F, or 50 degrees C.

Ingredients: Isoparaffinic hydrocarbons with less than 0.01 % aromatics (a proprietary blend of highly purified, volatile mineral oils.)

http://www.eco-house.com"

Hi,

I was interested in this topic when I thought that I had to have turps to paint in oils. I then found Marvin Mattelson's class (which is still very available) and I attended a one week workshop in Atlanta. I have not used turps in my painting since. I use cold pressed linseed oil or that Walnut Oil medium from Graham as mediums. I use about 30 - 40 brushes all beautifully held in a 3 tiered brush holder that has each value marked for each brush. It makes it where I don't wash the brushes when changing values or colors etc like I do when turp is readlily available. I found when I use turp I get lazy, wash, wipe, clean, wipe all day and I'm surrounded with the fumes, odorless or not. Now, I'm fume free until the very end of the day when I quickly wash them in turps and dispose of the wrags immediately, and properly.

A note: in grade school I was deemed a student with an extremely high IQ then came high school art and turps. Then, people thought I was on drugs, or smoking something. The "brain fog" came again when I started painting full time again. I've been turp free for 3 or 4 months now and my husband commented a couple nights ago that I was no longer soo flakey. BIG STUFF, Thanks to Marvin's wonderrful class and methods he shares so beautifully. He showed me after a week of painting that I really could do this, turp free stuff.

Prolonge the lifespan of your oils
 

Oils deteriorate and become thick when air fills up in the bottle that they are stored in. To make your oils last longer drop marbles in the oil to raise the oil level back to the surface closest to the lid.

Great idea. I have a huge bottle of linseed oil and at the rate I use the stuff I'll have enough to last until the next century. Maybe marbles would help it last longer. That is, if I can find the marbles I lost a while back. I know they were around here somewhere.....

I

That olive oil looks wonderful, Carlos! For a salad...

Marvin, now I understand the reason for the walnut oil. I've been using a cheaper alternative - canola oil from the supermarket. I wash wash wash my brushes with Ivory soap to get it out, but I think I'll be getting some of that walnut oil now.

For the record, I accidentally laid a few of my Ruby Satins in my oil can/brush cleaner to clean them "just a little later" and forgot them. A month later, I saw the can up high on a shelf, gasped, took the brushes and washed them with my Ivory soap, and - they are as good as new.

Baby Oil
 

:thumbsup: I just had to get in here on this one even though I have not participated for awhile.

Peter, I agree with you . I have been using Baby Oil for years. The only difference is that also immediately wash out ALL of the oil til squeaky clean with Dawn Dish Liquid. I should do a commercial for all of the times that I have used Dawn and told all of my students to do so. They come back with wonderful comments. Some say that they tried my plan on old brushes and made them usable again.

So, thumbs up on Baby Oil and Dawn. I have saved brushes for years due to that I believe.

Marvin, I do agree too that one needs to clean out the oily content no matter what anyone uses. Also, in my studio, I often use Turpenoid to clean and still finish with Dawn.

Painters will probably fuss about the "best way" to clean brushes as long as there are painters and brushes. What works "best" for one person might not suit another.

The most important thing about cleaning a brush is to eliminate the build-up of paint residues near the ferrule, at the "heel" of the brush!
The best way to do this is to grasp the tip of the brush hairs in one hand, and flex the hair-shafts by gently rotating the handle, when the brush is well-lathered with soap .

Here are some points you may find useful, or take issue with:

-As J.F. Carlson said, kerosene is the best solvent for washing brushes. Like baby oil (aka mineral oil or petroleum jelly - Vaseline) it has lubricating properties. It is the most penetrating of solvents commonly used for cleaning up because its wicking action is the highest. It readily "cuts" the oils and resins commonly used in oil painting, and it's relatively safer compared to other volatile solvents because of its low vapor pressure.

-Turpentine is NOT a good solvent for washing brushes, and eliminating all volatile solvents (whether you can smell them or not) in group sessions is a good idea. Using oils to clean brushes is a good solution in the classroom, so long as the brushes get a proper thorough cleaning after the session.

-Hog bristles are hollow. Soaking in oils renders them heavy, or "flabby" in action because the hair shafts fill with oil when they're soaked in it. The resulting action may or may not be something individual painters notice, or find offensive.

-Different cleaners for different hairs. "Fatted" soaps are best for hog bristles, (Ivory and a few of the brush soaps marketed for the purpose) but they leave sables matted and heavy. Lighter Castile soaps are better for sables used in oil paint. Detergents are anathema to the care of natural hairs, but work great on synthetics.

- "Hot" solvents such as lacquer thinner, xylene, acetone, citrus extract solvents and all paint removers are very damaging to natural hairs, and will embrittle them if used regularly. The first thing to break off are the "flags".

-Using a good quality pasty hair conditioner, any of the kinds that promise "beautiful, lustrous hair" is a good idea. The consistency of the conditioner enables re-shaping the brush after washing, which can eliminate "wave" and splayed hairs upon drying. I've noted definite improvement in my hog bristles since I began using it.

Lastly, the cleaning and care of brushes used in commercial paints, enamels and lacquers in the sign shop has little to do with caring for brushes used for "fine art" oil painting. The brushes are different, the materials are different, the uses are different, and expectations for longevity of the brushes are different.

I use the Dove shampoo/conditioner combo. It works great.