Winsor & Newton Oil Painting Primer. Product review.

Marc

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It's been some years since I've used this, but as I mentioned it briefly in my last review I thought it might be a good idea to fully expand on the product.

The primer is not a standard oil ground. It's a titanium and calcium carbonate alkyd primer intended for oil or alkyd paint layers. The support, if a canvas, will need to be sized first. It leaves a nice egg shell finish and a pretty good whiteness. Whiter than any lead oil ground. In flexibility it's not quite as good as lead white. Tested to the limits it will always crack before lead carbonate in oil. However despite this, its still quite good. Much better than a layer of standard titanium white in linseed. The primer contains a volatile thinner and thus many airlines will refuse to transport it. Winsor & Newton claims now that it doesn't need any stirring. If this is true then the product may have been changed slightly, for when I used it, I found it to be of advantage to stir the primer in the tin first. Not to remix anything you understand, but to make it more fluid. The primer being slightly thixotropic in nature. I brushed this out quickly and firmly on the surface. On one hand it self leveled, but on the other it set up quite quickly. When painting panels it's important to get any stray hairs falling into the paint out of the surface smartly. I used a pin for this and rebuked myself for using such a cheap brush. The primer seemed to be completely dry in one day, but left it for longer. Two layers seemed to be required for good opaque coverage.

Why I don't use it: The vapors are quite toxic for me and I can happily use turpentine or mineral spirits. I have never before used a product that left me feeling so drugged and disabled in thinking. And this was applied to my half a dozen small panels mere feet away from an open door to the outside. It took a few hours to recover. I judged I may be able to freely sand these afterwards when dry, but this must be far more injurious to my health than lead primer (used sensibly) ever could be.

Please feel free to comment.
 
I have a small can of that somewhere. I don't recall having a problem with it, but who knows what's really in that alkyd concoction? If I recall correctly, I did use it outside - put it on some small panels with a brush and went over it with a foam roller in pursuit of a texture. It dried to the touch pretty quickly, so I put on 2 or 3 quick coats. After reading this, I'll be sure to always use it outside!
 
I think the culprit might be 2-butanone oxime also used in small quantities in W&N's Liquin. With a quick online search the CDC lists eye, nose, throat irritation. Well I didn't have that; but they also list, "headache, tiredness and feeling of drunk." And that's more on the money. "If you use paints, glues, coatings or cleaning agents containing 2 butanone you can be exposed from contaminated air or from skin contact with these products." I wonder if I got it on my skin as well?
 
Thank you for the review, Marc. I have used it for priming hardboard panels without any noticeable side effects. On the other hand, a feeling of "drugged and disabled in thinking" would be so close to my normal state that I probably didn't notice it.
 
I think the worst is this white underpainting stuff I use called Grumbacher MG. That's really the only smell that gives me headaches, otherwise, I'm pretty hardcore as far as tolerance. I like the smell of Liquin! :ROFLMAO:

I use the white Grumbacher MG underpainting stuff as a fast-drying primer under the paint that I scrape off the surface. It's been my little "secret" ...until now.
 
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