PRODUCT INFORMATION SHEET distilled gum turpentine Product Description Natural diluent and solvent for oil colours and varnishes. Greater wetting power than other artists’ solvents. Has a pleasant pine odour. Product Code: 012 Constituents: Distilled Gum Turpentine Product Application From the oleoresin of tapped Gum Thus Pine.Distilled from the sap of live trees and for artistic use must be completely anhydrous, or water-free. Natural diluent when used in small quantities with oil colours. Unlike petrolleum distillate based solvents (Low Toxic Solvent, Mineral Turpentine, White Spirit, etc.) its function is not solely to break-down oil but aids in dilution, keeping the richness and fatness of the oil with which it is mixed.Care should be taken, however, in diluting purely with Gum Turpentine as its over-use can easily underbind paint and lead to a dull, dry lifeless film with potential for dusting or flaking off.Artists wishing to create very fluid working qualities should refer to painting mediums constructed for that purpose. Gum Turpentine can be added to artists’ drying oils to add extra fluidity. It is generally found that Gum Turpentine has greater wetting powers than petrolleum distillates so that much smaller quantities may be added to achieve fluidity of paints and oils. If wishing to home manufacture damar varnish or using Damar Varnish or a medium with a damar content then Gum Turpentine must be used when wishing to dilute or remove. Damar resin is only fully dissolved in Gum Turpentine, petrolleum distillates only partitially dissolve natural resins and prevent full hardening of the resin film. If wishing to home manufacture an artists’ synthetic varnish (Paraloid B67MT, Laropal K80, etc.) or using a varnish or a medium with a synthetic resin content Artists’ White Spirit should be used when wishing to dilute or remove. Artists’ synthetic resins are only fully dissolved in petrolleum distillates. For cleaning brushes Langridge recommends the use of brush cleaning units or containers which have an airtight lid. Reducing exposure to solvent fumes is to advised at all times aswell as preventing evaporation of solvent in the container. A slightly gummy residue remains as Distilled Gum Turpentine evaporates. This is partly the result of polymerisation and oxidation and does little harm to mixtures in which it is used. However, a large quantity of Gum Turpentine allowed to evaporate by 70% in the container will contain too high a proportion of oxidised turpentine to be used safely for stable painting. ADDITIONAL PRODUCT INFORMATION Concerns about solvents. If concerned about contact with Distilled Gum Turpentine (see related Material Safety Data Sheet) then Langridge Odourless Solvent, a lower toxicity alternative, can be used.Because Langridge Low Toxic Solvent is an aliphatic hydrocarbon as opposed to an aromatic hydrocarbon such as Gum Turpentine issues regarding turpenes are avoided.Low Toxic Solvent cannot be used for dissolving damar or any natural resin. Using solvents to matte paint. Artists wishing to have a painting with a matte reflective quality should use a matte medium added to their paints or apply a matt picture varnish once the painting is finished.The use of solvents to matte paint is not recommended because the matte effect seen is due to the partial destruction of the paint film, leaving an unstable, underbound paint surface liable to crack or dust/flake.Although there are well documented examples of artists in the 20th century using solvents for matting they generally have the same conservation issues described here. Much effort from conservators are expended on preventing further deteriation of these unstable paint films. WORKING PROPERTIES Appearance Langridge Distilled Gum Turpentine is a clear to very pale yellow and transparent liquid with characteristic Gum Turpentine odour. Clean Up For further washing apply a small quantity of Marseille or other pure olive oil soap and massage the bristles of the brush to release any remaining colour. Wash thoroughly in warm water. Leave to fully dry before using for oil colours. Evaporation Times Available in: |
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