Antioxidant oils

Richard_P

Found this while browsing. Clearly clove oil is superior to the other alternatives, but I quite fancy the smell of Nutmeg paints!

EstherH

Interesting. Thank you.

Mark_Carder

Clove oil rules! 

Richard_P

But I'm not so keen on the smell.. :P

BOB73

RichardP, can you explain this. Antioxidants are needed by us old and decrepit folks for health and get it from cranberry juice. What is its value to a painter? I hate cranberry juice BTW. 

Richard_P

Oil paints dry by oxidation (rather than drying like water based media), so an anti-oxidant slows down the drying rate, That's why Geneva paints and Mark's Slow Dry Medium have oil of cloves in there.

BOB73

Thanks Richard_P  I've heard that some people attach a cotton ball with some clove oil under the lids of their paint jars to keep them fresh. Does it actually eat the oxygen out of the air?     

Richard_P

I think the smell alone can slow down the curing rate of the oils.

Summer

@Richard_P Thanks for posting this chart.  Very helpful.  Summer