I decided to move to solvent/medium safety.

[Lazarus]

I don't think Walnut oil is any less toxic than Linseed oil.

For cleaning brushes - actually, you don't have to. Just wipe them off then dip in safflower oil and lay them flat. The safflower oil will keep the paint from drying on your brush. To use, just wipe off the safflower oil and go. I haven't cleaned a brush in over a month and I paint almost every day.

What is in the walnut or linseed that makes them toxic?

Without soap the brush start to be less natural elastic. to clean with safflower also depend on what brush you are using. synthetic or natural.

 

[Hermes2020]

I don't think Walnut oil is any less toxic than Linseed oil.

For cleaning brushes - actually, you don't have to. Just wipe them off then dip in safflower oil and lay them flat. The safflower oil will keep the paint from drying on your brush. To use, just wipe off the safflower oil and go. I haven't cleaned a brush in over a month and I paint almost every day.

I am very interested in what you say about the toxicity of these oils. I have always thought they were safe to use. Do you have any references to reputable sources you could share with us?

 

[musket]

Walnut oil isn't toxic, at least in food grade. You can buy it in markets. Loriva is reputed to be a good brand. Some artists prefer walnut oil that's been processed especially for artists' use--sun thickened, water washed and so on. No reason to think these are toxic either.

Safflower oil isn't toxic, to the best of my knowledge.

I don't know about linseed oil. I suspect it isn't toxic, but it should be researched.

Solvents dry by evaporation--it's the fumes that are the problem, long as you don't drink it. Oils dry by polymerization and should be okay (safflower is very slow drying but is used for whites by some manufacturers as it doesn't yellow). Walnut oil is slower drying than linseed but yellows less. I believe that M.Graham paints are bound in walnut oil. Linseed is reputed to produce a tougher film than walnut.

 

[Lazarus]

Oil medium made is the carrier of the pigment, it is about to dry or fade after its put on the surface and its contact with air. this is why the pigments inside the tubes dry bcz the oil find way to leave the pigment and separate from the pigment in the tube, same happens when it on the canvas. oil doesnt thin the pigment. the pigment is disassembles just with solvent. so there is a differnece with the use.

 

[musket]

Oil added to paint is a medium, not a solvent. And the solvents for oil paints, as mentioned, are all toxic to some degree.

 

[Bongo]

What is in the walnut or linseed that makes them toxic?

Without soap the brush start to be less natural elastic. to clean with safflower also depend on what brush you are using. synthetic or natural.

When I wrote: "I don't think Walnut oil is any less toxic than Linseed oil." I was trying to say since linseed oil is not toxic you're not going to do any better with walnut oil - because they're both non-toxic. Poor sentence construction on my part. Sorry for the confusion.