Any artist knows that the cost of art supplies — like outlining pens, paints, or canvases — can add up. Good quality oil paints can be quite expensive, so it makes no sense to waste hardened paint when you can soften and continue using it.
You can soften hardened oil paints using an oil solvent like turpentine or gamsol. The best way is to cut up the dried tubes, remove the paint and mix it with a solvent on a palette until it’s the right consistency before transferring it to a new tube.
Whether it’s to edit a future masterpiece-in-process or clean your brushes, here are the steps to soften hardened oil paint tubes
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Table of Contents
How To Soften Hardened Oil Paint Tubes
One – Cut Open The Tube and Remove The Paint
To start, you can put the tube in warm water, which may help soften it. Once you’ve got the paint inside the tube as soft as you can, then it’s time to remove it from the old container. If the bottom half of the tube has softer paint, consider cutting it there.
If the entire tube is hard, you may need to cut down the side of the container and ‘unwrap’ the dried oil paint.
Two – Put The Paint on a Palette and Soften It
Squeeze out as much of the oil paint as you can onto a palette. You may also need to use a tool like a palette knife to scrape out the hardened paint from the sides of the tube.
You’ll want to use a palette or other surface large enough to hold the softened paint, which will take up more room than it does when hardened. Use one of your larger palettes to make sure the softened paint doesn’t spill over the edges.
Three – Add Oil Solvents to Soften Your Oil Paints
The three most common oil solvents used in paintings are:
- Turpentine
- Gamsol
- Natural oils
Turpentine
Turpentine is the most well-known oil solvent for softening and thinning hardened oil paints. Oil solvents break down the oil particles, which is also helpful for cleaning your workspace when you finish painting.
Turpentine works best on damp oil paints. You can use it for dried paints, but the process is longer because you have to first soften the paint. Once softened, turpentine evaporates quickly, speeding up the drying process.
While some turpentine brands sell a more diluted and safe form of turpentine, the regular kind can be toxic. Here are some safety steps to follow when working with turpentine.
- Work in a well-ventilated space and be careful not to breathe in the fumes.
- Wear gloves.
- If you pour turpentine into a container, don’t use the same container for food or water.
Using turpentine has its advantages, and it is important to understand its versatility and exactly what it does, so you can include it within your essential collection before you start painting.
Gamsol
Gamsol oil is a type of mineral spirit oil solvent and is odorless and non-toxic. Gamsol is the healthier, safer alternative to turpentine. However, you still want to be in a well-ventilated area and wear gloves, just in case.
You only need a small amount of this liquid to soften your oil paints. It breaks down the oils in your paints, making it easier to remove or modify the softened paint.
Like turpentine, gamsol can modify and thin out oil paints and works great as a cleaner. Besides, not only is gamsol safer than traditional turpentine, it’s better for the environment. You can find gamsol on Amazon, like this Gamblin Gamsol Oil, which is safe and easy to use.
Gamsol doesn’t emit the usual fumes you would get from turpentine, making it easier on your lungs. Thus, you can also use it to thin out your paints, allowing you to experiment with the consistency of your paints. Gamsol is particularly popular because it is odorless, making it less harmful to your lungs than other solvents, and its uses extend beyond just a solvent.
Natural Oils
While turpentine and gamsol are usually the first choices, there are plenty of other options, such as:
- Linseed oil
- Poppy oil
- Safflower oil
These oils make oil paints thinner and wetter, which you can use to modify the paint’s consistency or soften it. These don’t work as well in cleaning your brushes and palettes, but they’re great for making changes to your paintings.
Unlike turpentine or gamsol, which breaks down the paint’s oil particles, natural oils add to them, making them thinner and lighter. Many oil paints use these oils in their production, so your best bet is to match the oil you use to the one already in your paints.
Adding these oils to your oil paints makes them dry slower, allowing you to work on them or remove them for up to 72 hours on average.
Four – Pour The Softened Oil Paints Into New Tubes
After recovering your paints, it’s time to pour them into new tubes. Don’t rush to fill the tubes, as you might spill paint. Use your brush or palette knife to get as much paint from the palette into the new tube.
If the paint is thin enough, you can place a funnel at the opening of the tube to prevent the paint from spilling.
Alternate Method To Soften Hardened Oil Paint Tubes
If you don’t have new tubes available or doubt your ability to transfer the paint into the new tubes without spilling, you can use the following method to soften hardened oil paints.
- Use a needle or toothpick to make a thin hole right down the length of the hardened oil paint in the tube.
- Pour your preferred oil solvent down the hole.
- Use the needle to slowly mix the solvent with the paint within the tube.
- Add more solvent as the paint becomes softer.
- Keep adding solvent and mixing until the paint is the right consistency.
Can You Use Water To Soften Regular Hardened Oil Paint?
You can’t soften regular hardened oil paints with water because water and oil don’t mix. The inability to use water is why you need an oil solvent — water can’t soften the hardened particles as it won’t sink into the oil.
Unlike many other liquids, oils are hydrophobic, which means they’re repelled by water. Thus, submerging your oil paints in water does nothing to make them thinner or break down the oils. Instead, the oils in the paint naturally move away from the water.
Can You Use Oil Solvents To Clean Up Hardened Paint on Your Brushes?
Editing a painting or thinning paint are not the only reasons to keep an oil solvent on hand when you’re oil painting. Any good artist knows to take care of their tools, particularly their brushes, and leaving oil paint to dry on the bristles can damage them.
Turpentine, gamsol, or other solvents will all work for cleaning hardened paint off brushes.
If you want to clean your brush without a solvent, you can also use options like linseed oil, dish soap, and white vinegar.
Can You Stop Your Oil Paints From Hardening?
Not every artist finishes their paintings in a day or two. Some projects might even take weeks to complete.
If you want to prevent the oil paints in your palette from drying out between sessions, you can store the palette somewhere cold, like the fridge, to slow down the hardening process. You can also add a natural oil like linseed oil or safflower oil to your paints to keep them wet for a few days.
Final Words
If you are an oil painter, you’ll need an oil solvent like turpentine, gamsol, or a natural oil to soften hardened paints. Turpentine and gamsol are the industry favorites because they speed up the drying time and work faster than natural oils.
However, if you’re looking for a safe option, you should go for gamsol or natural oils like safflower oil or linseed oil.