Long to explore rich, buttery oil paints, but think oil painting is toxic?

With the products available today, anyone still using toxic materials in oil painting is essentially doing so by choice.

I’m breaking it all down for you in a two-part article. In part one, I helped you replace toxic pigments in your paint choices.

Now, I’ll solve your solvent problem. Pun intended.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been oil painting professionally for 27 years. But that is not counting the few semesters in college painting class in the eighties when I was painting in my small dorm room with mineral spirits as the thinner. Can you imagine sleeping in that room?

Years later, when I thought I might want to take up oils again, I researched and tried out various solutions to the toxic problems of modern oil painting with varying success. I can confidently say I have tried almost all of them.

Please note: I am not a doctor or scientist. You have to do your own due diligence and make your own decisions. I’m just presenting what I have found to be a great solution.

I did a YouTube video about this topic (please like and subscribe if you get anything out of this post):

The two main problems with oil paint and toxicity are:

1. The pigments used to color the paint (discussed in part one)
2. The solvents used to thin the paint and clean the brushes. These solvents are sometimes added to oil paint mediums as well.

Solvents

So, this brings us back to my fumy dorm room in the eighties. There were stories even then about painters who had been painting for 20-30 years with solvents and, as a result, suffered from breathing and neurological problems and even death because of exposure to turpentine fumes. So, back then, the answer was Mineral Spirits (paint thinner).

Mineral spirits used by artists can cause:

• Acute symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and nausea, along with skin irritation or dermatitis.
• Chronic exposure may lead to serious long-term effects, including impaired brain function, memory loss (chronic painter’s syndrome), and liver/kidney damage.

Ugh, not for me!

Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS)

Turpentine and mineral spirits are hardly ever used anymore with the advent of Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS) such as Gamblin’s Gamsol.

Gamsol  -  an odorless mineral spirit for artists

Regarding Gamsol, Gamblin writes “Aromatic solvents are the most harmful type of mineral spirits. Gamsol is an odorless mineral spirit which has all of the aromatic solvents refined out of it – less than .005% remains. In addition, Gamsol has a slow evaporation rate, a high flash point, and is not absorbed through healthy skin.”

These are all net positives and a huge improvement for artists. But the presence or absence of odor is not an indication of lack of harmful vapors. There is still evaporation of the remaining distillates, however slow.

It still contains chemicals that can be harmful if inhaled in large quantities or over prolonged periods. It is designed to have a lower evaporation rate, which reduces the inhalation risk, but artists are advised to use it with adequate ventilation and personal protective equipment to minimize exposure. That is just not practical.

Imagine, too, how it can get compounded in a room with a group of artists all painting together, such as in a classroom or a live model session. In addition, if you have a home studio, it will affect your kids and pets even more than you.  

Note, also, the use of the words “healthy skin” - good luck if you have a cut on your hands or otherwise compromised skin.

Possible "COSTS" of Odorless Mineral Spirits like Gamsol include:

1. Health Costs: dizziness, headache, skin irritation, and central nervous system (CNS) depression.
2. Ecological Costs: Gamsol is still a petroleum distillate made of fossil fuels.

What are the Alternatives?

My Journey Started with Water-Mixable Oil Paint

I got back into oils in 1999 using the water-mixable artists oil paints from Winsor & Newton and Grumbacher because I could thin with water and clean my brushes with soap and water. Manufacturers introduced a soap-like additive to make the paint accept water. But, those were a miserable excuse for oil paints.

Various Water Mixable Oil Paints

They were stiff and hard to work with, while I wanted to play with the buttery oil paints I saw others using.

Royal Talens Water-Mixable Cobra Paint

These days, however, if you are looking to go the water-mixable route, Royal Talens’ Cobra paints are far superior to those early brands. I tried Cobra a few years ago thinking it might be nice to take them abroad, but I just didn’t like painting with them. They are buttery, but they are slippery and dry very shiny. I wouldn’t throw shade on anyone who likes or wants to try them however. It’s just that it is not necessary, and I’ll get to that soon.

Washing with Oil?

After about three years of working with the inferior water mixable oils back in the early 2000’s, a free package of paint and oil sent from M Graham paint (excellent paint, BTW) showed up in my PO Box promising solvent-free painting using walnut oil to clean your brushes (you can also use Safflower Oil). See Golden’s excellent blog post explaining how to use oil to clean your brushes.

M Graham Walnut Oil used to clean brushes

I did this for years, but the problems were:

• Any jar or airtight brush washer I used ended up dried shut.
• Left more oil on my brush than I wanted which can slow drying, make paint flow more than you want, and add risk of yellowing.
• Took too long to actually wash the brush in between colors. Not great for plein air where speed is important.

I Caved and Switched to Gamsol

The persistent problems of using oil to clean my brushes made me eventually switch to Gamsol. But, I was starting to get headaches. Which means something was going to my head.

Think about it, as much as you might try to keep the off-gassing to a minimum by keeping the cap on your brush washer and adding ventilation (which in the winter/summer is laughable, and a portable air filter was loud and didn’t seem to change much), you still have some on your brush and the paper towel you wipe it with. That gets into the paint which goes on the canvas, and where are your nostrils? Pretty darn close, and that stuff continues to off-gas as it dries. 

Imagine on a plein air trip where the wet paintings are all in a closed vehicle! Or, if your studio is in your home with family and pets. (And in my home, pets are family!)

Are Odorless Mineral Spirits the Best We Can Do?

No!

Eco-Solve: A Safe Solvent

I believe the single most effective change you can make to your oil painting set up to decrease your toxic exposure is to switch your solvent to Eco-Solve from Natural Earth Paint. (*affiliate link)

Right now, you may be thinking of the citrus based Turpenoid Natural. The odor from that is overwhelming and the results are not great. So, the idea of a plant-based solvent might seem an inferior choice to you.

But hear me out, because I have been using Eco-Solve happily for three years.

Eco-Solve from Natural Earth Paint.

According to their website, Eco-Solve is:

• Made with processed soy bean oil. 100% plant-based and natural.
• Non-Toxic. Tested by professional toxicologists. Does not emit harmful vapors. Does not irritate the skin. Does not pollute the soil or waterways.
• Safe and legal for air travel. Conforms to US Safety Standard D4236.
• Archival, professional artist-quality, non-yellowing. Excellent for creating washes, under-paintings, drip effects, etc. Extremely effective for cleaning brushes and tools.
• Subtle, fruity licorice scent.
• Packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled aluminum or glass bottles.

Fresh Eco-Solve in my brush washer. It is fairly clear to begin with.

It’s a game-changer and acts, in many respects, similar to Gamsol. Any “cons” there might be with this product are minimal and not worth sacrificing my health. I'll do an in depth deep dive into the Eco-Sovle pros and cons in a future blog post.

The key difference is that Eco-Solve is much stronger and evaporates slower.

It is a good practice to get as much of the Eco-Solve off your brush after washing as possible before continuing to paint and keep the excess away from your brush handle as it will eat away at the lacquer.  Gamsol is not strong enough to do that.

I have found that Eco-Solve cleans my brushes so well that I do not have to wash them with soap and water at the end of a session. I noticed, too, that my brushes actually last longer. This was a surprising difference that is good for both my pocketbook and the environment.

In the end, I think I found a near-perfect answer to the health, ethical, and performance concerns of using OMS.

If you are unable to get Eco-Solve, Sennelier makes a bio-based thinner called Green for Oil. I have purchased this, but not really tested it much. I can get larger qualities of Eco-Solve, so it suits my purposes better.

Sennelier Green for Oil bio-based solvent.

Mediums

Mediums are used in oil painting to change the properties of the paint to alter the consistency, drying time, sheen, and/or transparency of paint. They facilitate techniques like glazing or impasto, improve paint flow, speed up or slow drying, and strengthen the paint film.

First, make sure your medium does not have solvents.  It matters because that solvent is off-gassing while it’s sitting on your palette or drying on your painting.

Liquin, for example, popular because it causes the paint film to dry faster, has petroleum distillates and is famous for being very smelly. Keep reading and you’ll know what that means. Stay away!

Solvent-Free Mediums

Various solvent-free oil painting mediums

In their discussion of the archival use of mediums, the paint company Natural Pigments (not to be confused with Natural Earth Paint) offers useful information and a range of solvent-free mediums. I personally use their Oleogel for normal painting, glazing, and for oiling out, and Epoxide Gel or Epoxide Oil if I need the paint to dry faster. While these Epoxide mediums do have a strong odor, they have no solvents and are a safe alternative to Liquin.

While many of Gamblin’s mediums have solvent in them, they also make a Solvent-Free Gel and Solvent Free-Fluid medium.

Sennelier makes a line of safe mediums that speed up drying time and offer impasto and glazing properties.

In a future blog post I will do a full and honest review of Eco-Solve and share what I have learned after using it for the past three years. I’ll tell you the things they don’t say on their website - things that are helpful to know as you transition.

Happy Painting,

Tracey

*Affiliate transparency: If you use my link to naturalearthpaint.com and make a purchase, I will get a small commission. But make no mistake, I am true fan of Natural Earth Paint as a company and my opinions are my own.

Eco-Solve at work in my home studio. Just like Gamsol, it can be reused over and over.

All Photos Copyright 2026 Tracey Frugoli

Resources:

https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1962.pdf - negative effects of turpentine

https://gamblincolors.com/studio-safety/studio-safety-create-without-compromise/ - Gamblin website discussion on studio safety

https://justpaint.org/cleaning-brushes-without-solvents/ - Golden’s excellent instructions for cleaning brushes with oils.

https://www.naturalpigments.com/artist-materials/safe-solvents-practices – Natural Pigments discussion on studio safety in oil

painting

https://www.wcsu.edu/art/health-safety/painting-drawing/ - Art Studio Health & Safety

https://saferpainting.com/solvents-exposure-and-sickness-the-21st-century/ - discussion of solvent toxicity for artists

https://www.naturalpigments.com/artist-materials/oil-paint-mediums#:~:text=Pastes%20of%20calcite%20and%20oil%20can%20be,mixed%20with%20colors%2C%20do%20not%20tint%20them. – Natural Pigments’ discussion of oil painting Mediums