Linseed Oil

A drying oil used in artist paints that is obtained from the seeds of the common flax (Linum usitatissimum) plant. Linseed oil contains the following fatty acids: linolenic (48-60%), oleic (14-24%), linoleic (14-19%), palmitic (6-7%), and stearic (3-6%) (Serpico and White 2000). The drying property is due to the unsaturated bonds in the linoleic and linolenic groups. Linseed oil is the most important and largely used oil for paints and varnishes. It produces a hard, insoluble film when it dries. The yellow-gold color oil is commercially extracted by various methods. The seeds can be crushed in hydraulic or screw-type presses to produce cold-pressed oil. The same process performed on steam-heated seeds produces hot-pressed oil. Cold-pressing is a less efficient manner for extraction, but it produces a higher quality artist paint. Many types of aging, refining, and bleaching procedures have been used to purify the oil and make it dry faster. Linseed oil is used in paints, varnishes, printing inks, synthetic resins, Oilcloth, Linoleum, and soaps.Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction. Linseed oil is a drying oil, meaning it can polymerize into a solid form. Owing to its polymer-forming properties, linseed oil can be used on its own or blended with combinations of other oils, resins or solvents as an impregnator, drying oil finish or varnish in wood finishing, as a pigment binder in oil paints, as a plasticizer and hardener in putty, and in the manufacture of linoleum. Linseed oil use has declined over the past several decades with increased availability of synthetic alkyd resins—which function similarly but resist yellowing.