Eureka!
 

I just found a non-toxic product for cleaning brushes that I love. I had been having neurological problems as a result of using Gamsol several years ago so I researched non-toxic products. I found that all the artists products that claimed to be non-toxic were quite disappointing. Then I found something called the Sporny Solution developed by an art professor at Marshall Univ. in WV who was chemically sensitive. I used the brush cleaner and liked it very much but when I went to buy more I found that Professor Sporny had died suddenly and the product was no longer available.

I tried to get information about what he had used but was simply told that it was a product used in cosmetics and other uses - not enough to go on. So I went back to cleaning my brushes with safflower oil, which did work, but was horribly gooey and messy.

Then the other day I bought a little bottle of vitamin D3 drops. The drops were in a light oily base. I was reading the label and noticed the words, " contains fractionated coconut oil" Huh? Hello? I wonder if that is what was in the Sporny brush cleaner???

So I went online to look it up and found that you can buy pure fractionated coconut oil as massage oil. So I bought some. Without a chemical analysis I can't say for sure it is the same thing as the Sporny, but it sure looks, smells, and acts like it. I might add that coconut oil is the best thing you can put on skin and hair (including natural brush bristles).

I have been using it and I love it. But you must be careful to keep the oil out of your paint as it is non-drying. For thinning paint I use walnut oil, and if needed I still use a few drops of artists turpentine. I keep the turp in a little metal solvent dispenser from Alvin that keeps it from evaporating and dispenses one drop at a time.

Coconut oil is an essential oil that is common in soaps. You can find some glycerin based soap bars at soap-making supply sites that contain coconut or other similar oils. These will wash out better than using the coconut oil by itself.

Coconut oil soap may be good for final cleanup but for keeping things clean as you go along the fractionated oil is better. The oil is very good for cleaning paint on clothing as it doesn't dry and so prevents the paint from setting before the item is washed. Of course it is for this same reason that you must wipe your brushes carefully before you dip them in paint again.