- Thinning oil colors. A little goes a long way; stiff oil colors relax immediately when a little Gamsol is added. Be careful not to thin oil colors too much with solvent alone, this can compromise the ability of the paint to form a paint film.
- Modifying painting mediums. Our Galkyd line of painting mediums are formulated with Gamsol, so they readily accept Gamsol as a thinning agent. Note: Gamsol should not be added to painting mediums made with natural resins (dammar, copal, mastic). They require strong solvents such as turpentine.
- Studio clean-up: brushes, palettes, palette knives, etc.
Gamsol is a petroleum distillate but all the aromatic solvents have been refined out of it, less than .005% remains. Aromatic solvents are the most harmful types of petroleum solvents. In addition, Gamsol’s flashpoint allows it to ship via air cargo as a non-hazardous material.
All of these factors have lead to Gamsol being used widely in oil painting classrooms; in those classes, there are no solvent odors, only the wonderful smell of oil colors.