What is the difference between gum and wood turpentine?
The principal difference between the turpentine products available today—gum turpentine and wood turpentine—is the constituent b-pinene, which is almost entirely absent from wood turpentine. Wood turpentine can be used as a solvent for oil paint, but gum turpentine is more suitable for natural varnishes.
What is a good substitute for gum turpentine?
Artists' Turpentine is an alternative for Gum Turpentine containing white spirit. Artists' Turpentine is an alternative for Gum Turpentine containing white spirit. Solvent for oils.
What is gum turpentine used for?
Gum turpentine or spirits of gum turpentine is recommended for artists' painting or varnish applications over other turpentine products, such as wood turpentine.
What is the difference between thinner and turpentine?
The basic difference between a thinner and turpentine is that the thinner is a liquid mostly used for thinning the consistency of another liquid while turpentine is a kind of volatile essential oil (extracted from the pine trees wood by steam distillation) used as a solvent and paint thinner.
What is gum turpentine used for?
Turpentine oil is obtained by distilling oleoresin (gum turpentine) of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and other Pinus species. Turpentine oil is used to adulterate juniper berry oil. Turpentine oil is used topically to treat rheumatoid and neuralgic disorders, toothaches, muscle pain, and disseminated sclerosis.
Is gum turpentine the same as mineral spirits?
It is also known as spirits of turpentine or simply turps. The best grade is called pure gum spirits of turpentine. Turpentine has more solvency than mineral spirits. Care should be taken when using it to thin oil- or alkyd-based paints; otherwise the paint could be overthinned, which can cause it to run or drip.
What is the difference between turpentine oil and gum turpentine?
Gum turpentine is the resin of pine trees. While turpentine oil is made from gum turpentine. Turpentine oil is safe. It can be safely applied to the skin or you can inhale it.
Are all turpentine the same?
You might hear turpentine being called Spirit of Turpentine or Oil of Turpentine, but it's all the same stuff. It is slightly more viscous than white spirit. Good quality turpentine will smell of the pine trees used to make it.
Can I use mineral turpentine for oil painting?
Introduction Today oil painters use turpentine or odorless mineral spirits as oil painting solvents and thinners.
What is the difference between mineral turpentine and turpentine?
Mineral turpentine is chemically very different from turpentine, which mainly consists of pinene, and it has inferior solvent properties. Artists use mineral spirits as an alternative to turpentine since it is less flammable and less toxic.
What are the different types of turpentine?
Genuine turpentine also known as distilled turpentine/gum spirits/spirit of turpentine/oil of turpentine. ... Mineral turpentine also known as white spirits/mineral spirits/artist's white spirits. ... Odourless mineral spirits also known as OMS.
Is gum turpentine toxic?
Despite its prior medicinal uses, gum turpentine is considered toxic because some of the species of pine trees from which it's distilled can produce a solvent that causes skin irritation and allergic reactions in some people. Its concentrated vapors can also cause headaches.
Is paint thinner the same as turpentine?
What Are the Differences between Paint Thinner and Turpentine? Paint thinner is a liquid used for thinning the consistency of another liquid. Turpentine is a volatile oil primarily used as a solvent in paint. Paint thinner is made from petroleum, and turpentine is made from the sap of pine trees.
What is pure gum turpentine?
Diggers Pure Gum Turpentine is a thin, volatile oil with a unique eucalyptus odour. Different to Mineral Turpentine, Diggers Pure Gum Turpentine is highly refined and is predominantly used as an artist paint thinner.
Is distilled turpentine the same as turpentine?
Rectified Turpentine is turpentine that has been purified, it works same as distilled turpentine only with less odor, and is much kinder to your brushes.
Is white spirit the same as turpentine?
What's the difference between white spirit and turpentine? Turpentine is made from natural resin that is extracted from trees whereas white spirit is formulated from petroleum distillates. Turpentine is less toxic, but white spirit is less flammable.
How is gum turpentine obtained?
Gum Turpentine is obtained by the distillation of sap tapped from living pine trees. Turpentine has more solvency than mineral spirits or odorless mineral spirits. Its high solvent strength makes it the best choice for thinning oils and natural resins. Our pure spirits of gum turpentine is steam-distilled (rectified) from pine trees ...
What is gum turpentine used for?
Pure spirits of gum turpentine for use with linseed or other oils as a medium, with damar or mastic as a diluent for picture varnishes or as a solvent for cleaning tools. Learn more.
How long can turpentine be stored?
This was a recommendation often encountered in nineteenth-century artists' manual, but its efficacy is unknown. Turpentine stored 15 to 18 months, still passes the ASTM tests so that the degree of oxidation developed under normal storage conditions during this period is not great.
Why does turpentine darken?
Turpentine may darken when exposed to air and light because it develops hydroperoxides, acids and other by-products that can attack metal storage containers . Darkening may also occur in plastic containers since these are permeable to oxygen.
What is a traditional artist's thinner?
Traditional Artists’ Thinner. This is the traditional artists' thinner (diluent) for oil colors, mediums and varnishes. It improves the flow and dissolves wet oil colors easily and evaporates readily. Add directly to oil colors, mediums or varnishes for thinning; soak brushes well to remove color or varnish.
Is gum turpentine good for varnish?
Gum turpentine or spirits of gum turpentine is recommended for artists' painting or varnish applications over other turpentine products, such as wood turpentine. The principal difference between the turpentine products available today—gum turpentine and wood turpentine—is the constituent b-pinene, which is almost entirely absent from wood turpentine. Wood turpentine can be used as a solvent for oil paint, but gum turpentine is more suitable for natural varnishes.
Can you use turpentine in a can?
However, once a can is partially empty this may cause darkening of the turpentine if stored in the can for extended periods. If you do not use all the turpentine within a reasonable amount of time, we recommend pouring the partial contents from the can and filling amber glass bottles.
What is turpentine made of?
Chemical compound. Turpentine (which is also called gum turpentine, spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, wood turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially), turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines.
What is the chemical component of turpentine?
Commercially used camphor, linalool, alpha-terpineol, and geraniol are all usually produced from alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, which are two of the chief chemical components of turpentine. These pinenes are separated and purified by distillation.
What is the difference between Canada balsam and Venice turpentine?
Canada balsam, also called Canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is a turpentine that is made from the oleoresin of the balsam fir. Venice turpentine is produced from the larch. Venice turpentine is a honey-like product often used by artists when painting in oil , and it is also used to treat horse's hooves.
How is oleoresin converted to turpentine?
Converting oleoresin to turpentine. Crude oleoresin collected from the trees may be evaporated by steam distillation in a copper still. Molten rosin remains in the still bottoms after turpentine has been distilled out. Turpentine may alternatively be condensed from destructive distillation of pine wood.
Why is turpentine used in cleaning products?
Turpentine is also added to many cleaning and sanitary products due to its antiseptic properties and its "clean scent". In early 19th-century America, turpentine was sometimes burned in lamps as a cheap alternative to whale oil. It was most commonly used for outdoor lighting, due to its strong odour.
What is the average yield of sulfate turpentine?
The average yield of crude sulfate turpentine is 5–10 kg/t pulp.
Where does the word "turpentine" come from?
The word turpentine derives (via French and Latin ), from the Greek word τερεβινθίνη terebinthine, in turn the feminine form (to conform to the feminine gender of the Greek word, which means "resin") of an adjective (τερεβίνθινος) derived from the Greek noun (τερέβινθος), for the tree species terebinth.
What is the difference between turpentine and a thinner?
The basic difference between a thinner and turpentine is that the thinner is a liquid mostly used for thinning the consistency of another liquid while turpentine is a kind of volatile essential oil (extracted from the pine trees wood by steam distillation) used as a solvent and paint thinner.
What is turpentine made of?
However, it is different from many of the thinners we’ve discussed so far in that it is made from natural resources like the resin of living pine trees. It does take some synthetic processes to produce turpentine, but the base ingredient and even some of the usual additives are naturally occurring, like bee’s wax.
What is naphtha paint made of?
It is often made with natural gasses, petroleum distillation, or the distillation of coal tar or peat. When it comes down to it, naphtha is another paint thinner, but it is flammable and tends to be a bit harsher than mineral spirits.
What is paint thinner?
For starters, paint thinner (also referred to as white spirit solvents or mineral spirits) is actually just a sort of generic term for any product that is used to thin out the paint. Some examples are mineral spirits and naphtha. These products can be used in many different ways, but the intended use when they are produced is as paint thinner.
Is turpentine safe to use?
In fact, using turpentine as any kind of medicine is risky and unnecessary with modern medicine so readily available. Turpentine has had many niche uses over the years, including being added to gin, added to cleaning products as an antiseptic, and used as lamp oil.
Is mineral spirits the same as naphtha?
Other names for mineral spirits were “mineral turpentine” and “white spirit”. Although it’s been referred to by the same names, mineral spirits are not the same as naphtha or turpentine. Naphtha-.
Can you use water to thin paint?
Put simply, water won’t usually work. Many paints are oil-based, which obviously will not mix well with water. Even if they aren’t oil-based, paint thinners are designed to thin out the paint without diluting the ingredients as much as water. Let’s take a brief look at each type of thinner. Mineral Spirits-.
What is a turpentine?
Turpenoid is a petroleum distillate–mineral spirits. The “mother” of Turpentine is a pine tree; the “mother” of Turpenoid is an oil well. Some people just seem to be more sensitive to one, and some people more sensitive to the other. They both are friendly to oil paint. They each work well for cleaning brushes, ...
Is turpentine a solvent?
Turpentine is a more aggressive a solvent than Turpenoid. Turpentine exhibits a distinct odor, while Turpenoid has very little. To make things a bit more confusing, the makers of Turpenoid also offer a substance called, “Turpenoid Natural”, to which they have also added a citrus-smelling liquid called, “D-Limonene”.
Is turpentine more volatile than mineral spirits?
I much prefer the smell of Turpentine over mineral spirits, but it is more volatile and will pollute the air more than mineral spirits will. Permissible Exposure Level (PEL), is measured in parts per million. (ppm), and represents the maximum solvent content before the air is considered hazardous.

Overview
Converting crude turpentine to oil of turpentine
Crude turpentine collected from the trees may be evaporated by steam distillation in a copper still. Molten rosin remains in the still bottoms after turpentine has been distilled out. Such turpentine is called gum turpentine. The term gum turpentine may also refer to crude turpentine, which causes considerable confusion.
Turpentine may alternatively be extracted from destructive distillation of pine wood, such as shre…
Etymology
The word turpentine derives (via French and Latin), from the Greek word τερεβινθίνη terebinthine, in turn the feminine form (to conform to the feminine gender of the Greek word, which means "resin") of an adjective (τερεβίνθινος) derived from the Greek noun (τερέβινθος), for the terebinth tree.
Although the word originally referred to the resinous exudate of terebinth trees (e.g. Chios turpentine, Cyprus turpentine, and Persian turpentine), it now refers to that of coniferous trees, na…
Source trees
Important pines for turpentine production include: maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), Masson's pine (Pinus massoniana), Sumatran pine (Pinus merkusii), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), slash pine (Pinus elliottii), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa).
To tap into the sap producing layers of the tree, turpentiners used a combinati…
Industrial and other end uses
As a solvent, turpentine is used for thinning oil-based paints, for producing varnishes, and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Its use as a solvent in industrialized nations has largely been replaced by the much cheaper turpentine substitutes obtained from petroleum. A solution of turpentine and beeswax or carnauba wax has long been used as a furniture wax.
Turpentine is also used as a source of raw materials in the synthesis of fragrant chemical comp…
Hazards
As an organic solvent, its vapour can irritate the skin and eyes, damage the lungs and respiratory system, as well as the central nervous system when inhaled, and cause damage to the renal system when ingested, among other things. Ingestion can cause burning sensations, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, confusion, convulsions, diarrhea, tachycardia, unconsciousness, respiratory failure, and death.
See also
• Charles Herty – Chemist, academic, businessman, football coach
• Galipot
• McCranie's Turpentine Still
• Naval stores industry
External links
• Inchem.org, IPCS INCHEM Turpentine classification, hazard, and property table.
• CDC - NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards - Turpentine
• FAO.org, Gum naval stores: Turpentine and rosin from pine resin