I’ve been using Testors & Model Master oil based model paints for several decades. Until recently, the odor of the Testors “Thinner” has not bothered me, but now it does. While I use acrylics for some jobs, I much prefer the oil based paints for plastic models.
So my obvious question is, “Is there a true low odor thinner out there”?
Thank you all!
I don’t know the answer to your question about a low or no order thinner for solvent paints. However, a respirator mask should eliminate any problem you may be having. For solvent paints and also solvent cements, you would want one with filter cartridges for organic solvents.
People should use these whether the fumes bother them or not as you really don’t want to be inhaling organic solvents!
Joe
I always think back to the days of Floquil and their toluene based paints. I wonder how many of those fumes I breathed in back in the day. I do know that my wife banished me to the garage whenever I used Dullcoat. Years ago, in the clinical microbiology field, we practically flooded table tops, etc. with phenol to disinfect them. Now phenol is prohibited for a variety of reasons. Gasp.
Some basic chemistry. The solvent thins the paint as you know. If the odor is less it isn’t vaporizing off as much. Therfore it is still present on the model increasing drying time and possibly being runny. I never painted in the house or basement. I did it in the garage with the door up. As a chemical engineer there is a lot of fear mongering regarding organic vapors like many other things.
Apparently everything in California is carcinogenic if the labels are to be believed.
I definitely agree. When I first began airbrushing, I used a two-stage respirator which blocks both particulate matter and all fumes. You could probably accidently dump out a gallon of lacquer thinner and not notice the smell at all.
Wayne
Many petroleum based solvents and paints may be labeled “unknown toxicity” for being carcinogenic but alot of them are neurotoxins and repeated exposure or quantity of exposure can have compounded effects. The hobby always gets a pass because a small spilled bottle of solvent isn’t enough to cause an industrial remediation response. But when you paint and glue stuff, you’re generally sitting up close before vapors have a chance to dissipate or turn into something non-reactive.
I’ve gotten used to a respirator and do major painting outside.
The problem is pinpointing the risks and exposure can be elusive. I have a radon monitor in my workspace and I should probably be more worried about that than paint fumes.
CLARIFICATION…
My initial post should have included these details:
Only small models are brush painted in the house (my hobby room).
Larger projects & any airbrushing is done in the garage. After 40 years in the oil business (5 refineries) I am fully aware of the need for respirators and use them.
So my original question remains… is there any thinner out there that is less obnoxious than that offered by Testors?
Thanks all!
Let me begin by saying that I have no experience with oil-based thinners, but both Hobby Lobby and Michaels sell a product named Mona Lisa Odorless Paint Thinner that claims to be odorless.
Rich
I suspect there are two classes of answer: products with no odor, and products with low odor you can stand better.
Lowe’s has ‘odorless’ Jasco’s mineral spirits (in gallon size for just over $15!) which may be suitable to what you need.
Turpenoid is suppossedly odorless. Seen it in quite a few articles.
shane
I agree that today’s thinners are more oderous than years past. I recently found a bottle of Testers thinner in a box of model parts found in the attic. Probably been in there for at least fifteen years. Brand new never opened. It has very little older compared to a bottle I purchased last summer. I paint my brass and my cast iron model steam engines in oil based. I also have an old toaster oven out in my shed for baking paint jobs and other things.
Pete.
Thank you Pete!
I’ve been building models since the late '50s and used Testor’s products early on and continue to do so. For the last several years, I’ve felt that their thinner was more odorous than it once was. But without something to compare it with, I of course just could not be certain.
This is true, but it depends on genetics and amount of exposure. Out here in California apt. buildings have the sign out front for litigation protection and many companys put that lable on everything for the same reason, even if there are no studies.
If price tag is an indication of age. The found bottle had a tag over the cap of 29 cents. My latest bottle probably four years old was $1.99.
Pete
The good news - There are brands and types that are indeed less offensive. The “new” testor’s probably had a formulation change to make it either “safer” (to a degree) or cheaper. (Most likely the latter.)
The bad news - Not when you have asthma. All painting work requires a high quality respirator mask for me, airbrush or not. (Don’t get me started on soldering!)
Wanted to update you all on my quest for odorless paint thinners…
Picked up a pint (?) of Jascos at Lowes for $8. I took a 1 3/4 ounce bottle of the Testors thinner, emptied and cleaned it out, and poured in the Jascos.
I’m currently doing detail painting on a 1/24 scale '62 Pontiac and have cleaned the small brushes a number of times.
The odor level of the Jasco’s is a fraction of the Testors and really hardly noticeable. As when I used the Testors, I’m only exposing the thinner to air for a short time, and wipe off the brush with a piece of paper towel. When done, I put that towel in a ziplock bag - for later disposal.
Oh, FYI… The 1 3/4 ounce Testors thinner is $4.00 at Hobby Lobby. The pint of Jascos at Lowes is $8.00.
Thanks all!
Yep Toluene and Xylene is nasty nasty stuff that will damage your liver, nervous system, kidneys and lungs over time. I try to avoid it now, and that includes testors modelers glue/MEK. I find MEK joints become brittle with time any way.
I know an artist friend who uses this stuff: (He saw what happened to Bob Ross’s excess use of thinner) I should put a disclaimer in that there is no link between Xylene and Toluene and cancer. But long term repeated use can’t be good given what it does to organs that absorb it.
Amazon.com: Eco Solve : Health & Household
An econimical alternative might be Simple Green which is also based on Soy oil also. I know it works great on my acryllics. But it will eat styrene plastic with time. I also haven’t tried simple green with oil based paints