How Long Does It Take for Oil Paint to Stop Smelling?

As oil paint dries, the smell it produces subsides as well. So, the time it takes for oil paint to stop smelling depends on how long it takes to dry. However, some old paints have smells that never go away. Paint odor might never entirely disappear.

Did you know that there are ways to make oil paint dry faster? Well, there are. I’m sure there are many other details you don’t know about oil paints. What do you say we take a look at some of these details to answer the questionb How Long Does It Take for Oil Paint to Stop Smelling?

What Is Oil Paint Made Of?

More often than not, we are overwhelmed with the potent smell of the substances we use. Whether it is your favorite perfume or a freshly painted room, your nose is bound to be roused. If you do happen to have used a few tubes of oil paint recently, you might be asking yourself, “How long does it take for oil paint to stop smelling?”

As its name implies, the first ingredient you can find in a can of oil paint, is well, oil. Specifically drying oils like linseed oil (made from flaxseed), poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. 

This oil is used as a medium and mixed with powdered pigments of colors, which form a paste.

Some oil paints have been improved by adding solvents such as white spirits or turpentine to increase viscosity or adding varnish to increase glossiness.

How Long Does It Take for Oil Paint to Stop Smelling?

The time it takes for oil paint to stop smelling depends on the constituents of the paint. Usually, an oil painting should lose most of its odor as soon as it dries, but there are exceptions to this rule. There are some smells that can last long periods on a painting or never fade.

If your oil paint is simply just a mixture of a pigment and drying oil, then the smell of the paint should fade away as soon as the paint dries. Some paint takes days to dry, while others take months; it all depends on the color and brand you choose to utilize. 

There are certain actions you can take to speed up the drying process and get rid of the smell faster. Although there are people that find the smell of oil paint pleasant, maybe you just aren’t one of them.

Now, if the oil paint is mixed with a solvent like turpentine, or maybe you used a medium or varnish with a solvent in it, your work might never lose that solvent smell.

How Long Does It Take for Oil Paint to Dry?

Have you ever been asked to do something, and you reply with, “I rather watch paint dry”? You most likely have. Well, that expression probably comes from experience with oil paint.

If you can apply your oil paint on your paint surface evenly, it can be touch dry in as early as 24 hours. 

However, it takes oil paints anywhere between a few days to a few weeks to completely dry. The time it takes varies due to certain factors that affect the overall speed of the process. Some of these factors include:

Color Pigment

Some colors can dry fast, while others not so much. It all depends on the thickness of the pigment; the thicker the pigment, the longer it takes to dry.

Oil paints made with iron oxides tend to dry faster than others; some of these colors are burnt umber, raw sienna, and raw sienna. Other colors that include cobalt also tend to have short drying times.

Colors with slower trying times include thick blacks, sap green, yellows, and cadmium. So, if you’re looking to do a quick paint job, you should probably stay away from those.

Oil Base

As you already know, oil paints are made from drying oils. These oils vary in terms of their drying times. For faster drying time, you should stick to linseed or safflower oil. Oils like poppy seed and walnut oil dry slower than most.

Environmental Factor

Oils are sensitive to a range of environmental factors, including wind, cold, moisture, heat, dust, direct sunlight, dirt, and humidity. Some are beneficial, while others are detrimental.

Oil paint will dry faster in cold weather and a ventilated room, allowing the cold and the breeze to aid in its drying process. Even painting in colder weather gives a better result than painting in a hot or humid in.

Thickness

Some people like to paint layers upon layers of paint on a single surface. While this gives way for beautiful results, the time it takes for that project to dry up would be much longer than one with a single layer.

Surface

Depending on the surface being used, an oil painting might take longer than it should. An absorbent surface allows the oil paint to seep in and dry faster, while a non-absorbent one will leave the paint to dry on its own, taking it longer to complete the drying process.

Exposure to Air

Oil paint that has been exposed to air begins going through the oxidation process and starts drying up. So, a tube of oil paint left open by accident or damaged one way, or the other will have the oil paint dry faster than one still concealed in its tube. 

How Can You Make Oil Paint Dry Faster?

If waiting is not your thing and you would like to speed up the drying process, you can use chemicals to do just that; there are even chemicals to slow the process down.

Solvents are excellent chemicals to use when trying to make oil paint dry faster. These chemicals work by diluting the oil paints, thereby thinning them, which leads to a speedy drying process. However, it could also wash out your color pigments (which is the goal sometimes). There are safer and natural solvents you could try.

Oil-based mediums are another set of chemicals that can either speed up or slow down the drying of your paint job. Oil-based mediums consist of solvents, oils, resins, or drying agents, which are mixed to hasten or hinder the drying process. 

By using specific oil mediums, you can achieve the drying speed you require. Using an oil medium with linseed oil will increase the drying rate, while oil mediums with poppy seed oil can slow down the rate.

Alkyd mediums are mediums made from synthetic oil that dry faster than some of these natural oils and can be used to speed up the drying process. Using an alkyd medium, oil paint can dry up in hours.

What Do Oil Paints Smell Like?

Like most things, the appeal of a scent is subjective, and oil paints are no exception.

Oil paints have little to no smell, but if you do happen to catch a whiff of oil paint, you should smell the oil used in making the paint. For example, an oil paint made with linseed oil would smell like linseed, or an oil paint made with oil like walnut oil would have a nutty smell.

Solvents, on the other hand, have a variety of smells. Some can smell very harsh and most people find this smell repulsive, while others have the smell of essential oils like lavender or rosemary. While the nicer-smelling solvents are less potent than standard solvents, they are also toxic nonetheless.

Is Oil Paint Bad for Your Health?

Contrary to popular belief, oil paints are not toxic. How could they be? They are essentially made from mostly harmless pigments and mineral oils. The only way one can be negatively affected is if the oil paint is ingested, and what are the chances of you doing that?

There are harmful pigments like cobalt, lead-white, and cadmium, but they’re only toxic in their powdered form. With proper handling of these pigments and washing of hands, there should be no issues.

The misconception of the toxicity of oil paints is actually the solvents (usually turpentine or white spirits) used alongside the oil paint. The toxic fumes these chemicals give off can cause headaches and can dry your skin.

What Are Solvents?

Solvents are potent smelling substances that release toxic fumes that are harmful to humans. Not only are they used to alter features of oil paints (like making them dry faster or increasing the fluidity of the paints) as mediums or used in most varnish, you can also use them to clean brushes.

While using these substances is beneficial to painting, they are also toxic and can lead to health complications like skin, eyes, or lungs irritation. If you must use a solvent in any form, ensure to do so in a well-ventilated room and make sure to close the lid when not in use.

How Do You Reduce the Effects of Using Solvents?

There are ways to minimize the risk of the effects of solvents. For cleaning, you can use a simple ivory soap, purchase brush soaps that are widely produced, or procure a product that utilizes a less toxic solvent. You can also just use a towel to wipe your brush as you paint.

If you must use a medium, you can use a solvent-based medium sparingly, purchase a solvent-free medium, or simply refrain from using mediums altogether and use the oil paint as it is. You can also use drying oils like walnut or poppy seed oils (which are safer) as mediums.

Varnishing is not a must, and not everyone does it. If you choose to do so, make sure to follow safety procedures and varnish in an open and ventilated space.

What’s the Difference Between Oil Paint and Acrylic Paint?

Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in a synthetic resin binder. The binder holds the particles of the pigment together to produce a buttery consistency.

Oil paints and acrylic paints are equally exceptional choices when choosing to paint. However, there are a few features that make them differ. 

Drying Times

You have more flexibility using oil paints than acrylic paints. Oil paints dry slower than acrylic paints. With oil paint, you can choose to paint for a long period (days). But, If you choose acrylic paint, each stroke has to count because as soon as your paintbrush touches the surface of your canvas, your paint dries.

Lightfastness

Another difference is the fact that acrylic paints darken in color and oil paints do not. While they do stay the same shade for years to come, they darken as soon as the acrylic paints dry up. Oil paints do not darken. However, they fade and gain a hint of yellow over time.

Space

You can paint using acrylic paint in a small room; this is because the paint has a weaker odor and is cleaned using soapy water, which is basically odorless. However, with oil paint, due to the possible use of turpentine or white spirits, painting in a confined space is unadvisable.

Also, note that even though acrylic paints have mild odors, some possess small amounts of ammonia, so it is best you paint in an open space, regardless of what type of paint you choose to use.

Blending

Blending is easily done with oil paints. This is because they take significant time to dry so, you can mesh two or more colors during that period. However, acrylic paints tend to try quickly, so they are not preferable for this style of painting.

Finish

When you are done painting with oil paints, you should notice that your work has a glossy look to it, while a painting done with acrylic paints will have more of a matte finish. Both are fine; it all depends on what you are as a painter prefer.

Cleaning

Oil paints are not easy to clean, which is why specific potent chemicals have been designed to clean your paintbrush when you are done painting. However, acrylic paints do not require these chemicals. All you need is soapy water to clean all paint from your brushes.