' Mineral Spirits ' question

[Dave Beauchesne]

Greetings:

I go to my two local paint suppliers here in small town BC ( Canada ) and ask for mineral spirits.

One place has brand name Varsol which, on the label says ' contains mineral spirits '. So I ask whether it is 'all ' mineral spirits, or is there something else; the reply is they aren't sure.

The second place has Varsol and a store brand paint thinner that is labelled as the Varsol, ie: ' contains mineral spirits '

So I ask the young lady about the labels and what they mean, to which she said she was told to show people ' lamp oil ' if they asked for mineral spirits. Sure enough, the 'paraffin based lamp oil ' lists on the back ' contains mineral spirits ' but the clear liquid has some viscosity to it, like whole milk versus water.
I am confused: any insight from the SMC crowd?? I want to use mineral spirits to make a 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 Waterlox finish, but don't want to mess it up.

Thanks!

[Scott Holmes]

Most paint thinners in the USA are 100% mineral spirits. Not sure what is different North of the border. I would not use anything other than 100% mineral spirits for an oil/varnish blend...

[Lonnie Gallaher]

Ask the store staff for the MSDS (Material Safefy Data Sheet) for the mineral spirits. The MSDS will list what the components of the product are as well as other safety information. You should also be able to find the MSDS on the manufacture's or the supplier's web site.

[Prashun Patel]

Not necessarily true. Msdss dont disclose everything. Its not a requirement here or in canada. Mineral spirits, mineral oil, naphtha, paraffin oil, and paraffin wax are all derived from the same starting material, crude oil. They are compatible and soluble in each other, but evaporate at drastically different rates. Using anything but pure mineral spirits to do the job of mineral spirits means your mix may not dry, may be smeary, or worse, may cause your mix to bubble or crack.

The point is, if you want mineral spirits, make sure its pure and labeled as such. Do not infer from a product labeled otherwise what is inside.

This being said, if you are using waterlox original sealer finish , it is already thinned, so if you want to make an oil varnish blend, you just need to add oil, no thinner. If you are using the non voc compliant version, i wouldnt thin with ms or add oil. The thinner they use in that one does not perform like a tyipcal oilbased varnish solvent.

[John McClanahan]

MSDS sheets can be so vague that they are useless. Companies don't want to give out secrets by listing the true ingredients. I've tried that route. (Also got lucky a time or two.)


John

[Steve Schoene]

Goggle Varsol it is an Exxon/Mobil or Esso brand name and is basically mineral spirits, though they come in about 12 "flavors". The data sheets I looked at would likely give a pretty good distinction amoung them. Note that in a number of places the Exxon data calls them Stoddard solvent, which is pretty clearly a standard mineral spirit solvent.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I want to use mineral spirits to make a 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 Waterlox finish, but don't want to mess it up.

Varsol 40 or 60 is what you want.
That's roughly the same blend of aliphatic & aromatic solvents we here in the US get in cans of "Paint thinner" or "100% mineral spirits".

[Dave Beauchesne]

Thanks for the info!!

Will post pics when I get the job done.