help with turpentine, white spirit etc

steveo3002

just been to the shop after some white spirit to clean brushes and thin my paint etc

they had white spirit , turpentine , turpentine subsistute and maybe one other i forget

what are the differances ?

msmicawber

I'm not absolutely sure about this, so hopefully someone will correct anything I get wrong, but Turpentine is a natural plant extract that has been distilled and can be used for thinning paint as well as cleaning brushes. As far as I know, white spirit is a man-made substance and although it can be used for cleaning brushes, etc., I don't believe it can be used to thin paint. I believe that white spirit and turpentine substitute are two names for the same thing.

steveo3002

they had all those names from the same brand , so i assume they are differant products?

i think the turpentine was much more exp than the other 2

nickcardwell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turpentine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit
hope that helps!

steveo3002

^^^ doesnt explain why i should chose one over another does it

Debt_Free_Chick

I've been told in the past to use Turpentine (NOT substitute) for thinning paint and white spirit for cleaning up - as turpentine was a more "pure" product and wouldn't spoil or destabilise the paint.

TDA10

steveo3002 wrote: »

^^^ doesnt explain why i should chose one over another does it

No offence, but Nick Cardwell did answer your original question of what the difference is! You didn't ask why you should choose one over the other

A thanks to him would have been nice!;)

Stevie_Baby_3

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I've been told in the past to use Turpentine (NOT substitute) for thinning paint and white spirit for cleaning up - as turpentine was a more "pure" product and wouldn't spoil or destabilise the paint.

Chick..thats only really the case when talking about artist paints.

Turps sustitute is a by product of oil I beleive and will destabilise the paint if used in the wrong quantities.