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Gum Turpentine, TRIPLE DISTILLED

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Studio Products :: Solvents :: Gum Turpentine, TRIPLE DISTILLED

Gum Turpentine, TRIPLE DISTILLED #16242

Our double-distilled gum turpentine was great but this is vastly superior cosmetic grade turpentine. It has a clean smell and dissolves cleanly with no residue.

In an 8 ounce (237 ml) spun aluminum bottle. The packing and shipping costs incurred with our amber glass bottle and molded foam shipping container added a great deal to the cost. We avoided using common steel containers because gum turpentine reacts with the steel and rusts it. Fresh Gum Turpentine is used in the manufacture of cosmetics and medicines (it's used in Vicks to help free respiration). Freshness is important because Gum Turpentine (or spirits of gum turpentine) is chemically active and takes up oxygen from the surrounding the air. This causes paint to dries from the inside out rather than form a blister. By storing our gum turpentine in small airtight containers rather than large drums keeps our turpentine chemically active.

This is not Rectified turpentine, which is cooked at high temperatures with water and chemicals -- some claim that Rectified turpentine is just a British term for the same product, this is not true. The pine sap is mixed with water and a caustic and then distilled. Although that produces a clear spirits of gum turpentine, it also causes the spirits of turpentine to hold water. That additional water is why many resin varnishes grow cloudy. Today, much supposed "gum turpentine" is made in Third World countries using light woods, that is grinding up stumps, branches, pine needles and other junk and drawing the essence out with steam. That is called Wood Turpentine. Steam distilling results in that smelly stuff that also contains water. Real turpentine is made by patiently drawing off the tree sap. Just imagine what sort of maple syrup you would get if you boiled up roots, branches and leaves.

Over a hundred different species of coniferous trees are used to produce different grades of gum turpentine. The famed Portuguese Spirits of Turpentine is no longer extant and Portugal now imports distilled turpentine from Brazil. While the steam distilled Brazilian turpentine is a step up from the commonly available light woods turpentine, it's not that useful in that it does not contain b-pinene, the important compound in well-made gum turpentine. The last great stands of turpentine pines and traditionally-made gum turpentine are in the Carolinas and Georgia. The best are Pinus palustris or Loblolly Pine. In our home state of Georgia, the turpentine pines are tapped for the sap and left standing. The sap can be heated to much lower temperatures than ground-up stumps resulting in a distilled gum turpentine is chemically different. Steam is not used and, as a result our Gum Turpentine contains no water and will not make your varnishes cloudy.

Our gum turpentine has been distilled three times to remove most of the resinous material (less than 1% remains). These trees are grown in iron-rich soil (the famed Georgia red clay) and some of that iron oxide is taken up in the sap. Traces of the iron oxide appear in double distilled turpentine but are not in the triple distilled gum turpentine. The very best quality sap is called virgin box - from trees that have been tapped for less than three years. This is used in the manufacture of cosmetics and is the spirits of gum turpentine that we insist on buying. Because we make painting mediums, we demand the most active, purest possible spirits of gum turpentine produced. It has taken years to locate one of the last of the traditional Georgia gum turpentine distillers. There is no doubt that it is worth the effort.

Triple distilled gum turpentine is the same highly refined product used in the manufacture of cosmetics and medicines. Obviously, it is much safer to have cosmetic-grade, triple-distilled Gum Turpentine on your skin than the commonly available gum turpentine, which still contains a higher percentage of aromatics. Our cosmetic-grade gum turpentine has only the faintest smell of clean pine. No more headaches!

We suggest that you decant this fine gum turpentine into your palette cup for use during your painting session. Then seal the bottle to prevent it from taking up atmospheric oxygen. Gum Turpentine is used with linseed or other oils as a medium, with damar or mastic as a diluent for picture varnishes. Gum Turpentine draws in atmospheric oxygen, causing the paint film to dry thoroughly and not form a skin of dried paint over soft paint, as happens with deceptively named mineral spirits such as Grumtine, Turpenoid, Gamsol and other petroleum-based products. The petroleum-based solvents will cause damar and mastic to grow cloudy. Traditional vat-distilled gum turpentine mixes well with oils and all oil mediums (even alkyds) and makes clear damar and mastic varnish, with no or little smell in the studio. Sadly, the law prevents gum turpentine from being shipped outside of the continental United States.

Domestic shipping only! No overseas shipment available.

Ecological Good News: Turpentine is a natural product and its individual components are entirely biodegradable within a few days depending on the dilution degree, temperature, air supply and bacteria present.

The following is to satisfy our lawyers WARNING! Contains terpene hydrocarbons. Flammable liquid and vapor. Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through skin. Affects central nervous system. Can cause irritation to skin, if you put it in your eyes or respiratory tract. Overexposure may result in nausea, headache, dizziness, confusion or instability. PRECAUTIONS: Avoid prolonged contact with skin and breathing vapors. Keep away from eyes. Keep away from heat or flame. Use exhaust fan to assure adequate cross ventilation. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. FIRST AID: If swallowed do not induce vomiting, give edible oil to drink and get prompt medical attention. If eye irritation occurs, rinse with water for at least 15 minutes. If irritation persists, seek medical care. If skin irritation occurs, wash affected area with copious amounts of soap and water. If symptoms of overexposure occur, move to fresh air. If symptoms persist, see a physician. For further health information contact a local poison control center or call 1-800-445-7067. In short, open a window, do not drink it or bathe in it and do not smoke around it . . . actually, do not smoke. Smoking is much, much worse than turpentine fumes.