WashingLinseedOil.html

THE SUPERIORITY OF UNREFINED COLD PRESSED LINSEED/FLAX OIL

* A friend asked me to comment on an article downgrading and questioning the value of COLD PRESSED LINSEED OIL. The article can be seen on the Natural
Pigments website, a company selling artists materials. Copyright laws prohibit me from copying copyright protected text if I sell the information, but the Copyright
laws permit “FREE USE” of copyright protected writings by others if it is not sold, and if it is presented for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. It is for Educational reasons
that I respond to the article written BY Mr. George O’Hanlon, which is posted at: http://naturalpigments.com/education/article.asp?articleid=124

The article makes a questionable ‘scientific’ attempt to lower the value and importance of COLD PRESSED LINSEED OIL, while touting the NEW ADVANCES ( from 100
years ago??? ) of ALKALI REFINED linseed oil… and of their NEW PRODUCT soon to be available online ( their 100 year old “NEW” product = money profits).
Financially powerful companies of Linseed Oil production and sales advertise their use of “SCIENCE“, because the factual information I advance is not in their
financial interests.

Their website has a place for persons to send in a REVIEW of the article. I tried, but it would not accept my submission, even though I brought it down to less than
the required 225 characters. Therefore, the following RESPONSE is here posted on my website.

MY RESPONSE

Greetings. My name is Louis R. Velasquez, I am the author of the book, “Oil Painting with ‘Calcite Sun Oil”: Safety and Permanence without Solvents, Resins,
Varnishes, and Driers” . My website, www.calcitesunoil.com , provides a brief overview of issues regarding Linseed oil for artists. After reading the article by
George O’Hanlon, I am obligated to respond for educational reasons. The article is long. I will delete those statements from Mr. O’Hanlon’s article that are basically
irrelevant and unneeded. I will not take Mr. O’Hanlon’s meaning or words out of context, and I will try to be as accurate as possible with my comments. I offer my
comments for the purpose of education, not for any other reason. The sentences in ITALICS are those from the article by Mr. O’Hanlon.

About Drying Oils for Painting
All about the oils artists use in painting
By George O'Hanlon

* The subtitle is my first criticism of the article. It certainly does not provide ALL the information about the oils. And, the information in the article LEAVES OUT
important facts, that had they been INCLUDED, would invalidate some statements in the article.

H:…there are two major producers of linseed oil in North America and at least two in Europe, but there are many brands of linseed and stand oils offered by artist materials
companies. Artist materials companies do not have the resources to process linseed oil..

* This is an important observation by Mr. O’Hanlon. Gone are the days when the 15th century Van Eyck brothers, the creators of the finest preserved oil paintings in
history , and the other Old Masters pressed their oil COLD from the seeds, without any modern machinery or chemical treatments. Modern industry produces a
linseed oil, much changed from the PURE, UNREFINED, COLD PRESSED, LINSEED OIL [ actually it is FLAX SEED oil , as in nature, “LIN” seeds do not exist.]. Read my
website for detailed information on the effects of the industrialized product on the linseed oil [ flax oil] artists now use ( my website offers better options, now
available).

H: [ modern] Linseed oil is obtained by various methods, including pre-expelling, followed by hexane extraction of the resulting press cake. The oil is refined to remove phosphatides
and gums, which naturally occur in the oil. Subsequent refining through post-desliming with sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid yields oil with virtually no traces of phosphatides or gums.
Further post-treatments include lye neutralization and earth bleaching, which yields a very light drying oil. The natural smell of linseed is removed through vacuum steam distillation.
Removing the thin layer of wax that covers each seed is the last stage of the refinement process. Dewaxing is done by cooling the oil to 4° C. The cooled oil is held at this temperature
until the waxes crystallize, which is then removed by mechanical filtration.

* Mr. O’Hanlon gives a graphic view of modern industrial production of linseed oil. This treatment explains important facts that must and will be discussed here. He
does not elaborate on the important fact that what is sold as LINSEED OIL is the oil from FLAX seeds that is made for INDUSTRIAL use, and that the oil ALSO from the
FLAX SEEDS, and sold under that name, Flax Oil, is made for HUMAN CONSUMPTON.. and that the FLAX OIL is UNREFINED COLD PRESSED LINSEED OIL. The art
materials companies that sell linseed oil, do NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS, especially because FLAX OIL is 1/3 less expensive than the LINSEED oil sold in art
stores!

H: … alkali refined oils have come a long way but cold pressed is still considered the best because of quality not because of ease of extraction. This is a belief held on by many artists
but not shared by paint technologists and manufacturers.

* The article calls it a “belief not shared by paint technologists and manufacturers”. Manufacturers, and the scientists, publicists, lawyers and advertising they hire
to promote their product, have ONE overall important objective: To make the business financially profitable, and to reduce the competition. An industry that does
not earn a profit cannot exist. The modern extraction and treatment of the oil described graphically above, is calculated down to the penny. The process must be as
efficient as possible, to fulfill the huge world wide, market demand for linseed oil. The methods of the 15th century Van Eycks are just not financially feasible. If
TODAY’S oil was SLOWLY extracted, and SLOWLY cleansed by ancient organic methods, then SLOWLY processed as they did it, the man hours required would make
the final product so expensive it would be unaffordable and demand would be low. In the recent past, linseed oil, prepared like that of the Old Masters was
available online. Made in Italy, 4 ounces cost $27, and may not be available any longer. Modern industry quickly produces low cost linseed oil, and sells 8 fluid
ounces for $12. UNREFINED FLAX OIL costs $8 for 8 oz., because less TIME, LABOR, MATERIALS are required to produce the UNREFINED oil without the chemical
refinement process.

H: Refined and aged oil makes a better oil vehicle for paint making than cold-pressed unrefined oil,….

* This is a statement the manufacturers would like you to believe 100% so you will buy their product. The most important proof to DISPROVE their claim, is the
concrete evidence we have of oil paintings made by the Van Eyck brothers in the early 15th century, and the oil paintings of other Netherlandish masters of that
era. Their nearly 600 year old oil paintings were all made with UNREFINED, COLD PRESSED LINSEED OIL that were organically processed without chemicals. First,
the oil was left to STAND STILL for long periods of time, allowing any particulate, foreign matter and debris to SETTLE to the bottom of the container. After this slow
wait period, the oil was further CLEANSED of its mucilage ( which is invisible) by one of several different methods. Sometimes the oil was treated with
attapulgite/fullers earth, to reduce the yellow coloring that is natural and normal to linseed oil, but the yellowing CANNOT be removed from it permanently by any
means… regardless of what is written or advertised by the manufacturers. Finally, it was polymerized by SLOW exposure to summer sun and air to evaporate the
natural moisture. This entire process took over a month to complete, and even much longer for maximum cleansing. It is worth repeating: The finest preserved oil
paintings of history, were made with UNREFINED, COLD PRESSED LINSEED OIL… not with the Alkali REFINED linseed oil described above by Mr. O’Hanlon

H:…..because refined oil does not contain "breaks", combined water, waxes and other impurities that may cause the oil to yellow with age.

* Alkali REFINED linseed oil yellows as much as UNREFINED cold pressed linseed oil, period. Notice the author’s use of the word “MAY” when cautioning of the
yellowing of the oil. One would think that SCIENTISTS could be more accurate than to say “MAY”, when truly accurate scientific tests would show it DOES, or, DOESN’
T cause yellowing. The fact is, all linseed oils yellow, just some more than others. Modern refinement techniques have NOT removed the yellow from linseed oil. A
good example of UNREFINED oil that has not been cleansed, is this: IF one does not CLEANSE the UNREFINED cold pressed linseed oil, it will retain the particulate
matter that WILL turn Amber-brown. ALKALI REFINED oils have removed the particulate, but have also removed important molecular components of the oil, its fatty
acids, causing Alkali Refined linseed oil to become a very slow drying oil. Properly processed UNREFINED Cold Pressed linseed oil as done by the Van Eycks, will
produce a naturally fast drying oil that will dry within 30 hours. In stark contrast, to show the slow drying, the Alkali refined linseed oil hand ground into paint,
requires 7 days to dry for the Alkali Refined STAND oil, and 6 days for the MODERN Alkali Refined Linseed oil that they claim to have ’sun thickened’ ( for an
unspecified period) , OR, 3 days for Alkali Refined Linseed that has been sun thickened for 60 days in the summer sun. It is important to know that 6 factors impact
the drying of oil paint (1) the oil itself (2) the pigment it is mixed with (3) the thickness of the film (4) the environmental temperature (5) the humidity (6) the
ventilation.

H: The reason why cold-pressed linseed oil is recommended in artists literature is due to one fact: cold-pressed linseed oil has a high acid value compared to ordinary alkali-refined
linseed oil. High acid value makes drying oil better for grinding pigments. Up until the last 100 years, only cold-pressed oils had a high acid number considered suitable for grinding
colors. However, during the last hundred years, manufacturers have been producing high acid value refined oils and even high acid value stand oils or polymerized oils.

* First the Modern Refinement removes the FATTY ACIDS, now, they are reintroducing the ACIDS? The article makes this statement of HIGH ACID value, then follows
with the fact that it has been produced for the past 100 years, then follows with a claim that SOON, this high acid value oil will be available ONLINE in their company
store. Fresh pressed unrefined oils are neutralPH/ non-acidic, and as they 'cure', the acid quantity increase. This is part of its molecular structure. A structure that
has been negatively impacted by industrial refinement as described above.

H: Stand oil is a partially polymerized but unoxidized linseed oil [and] is made by heating the oil to abut 300° C.
(570° F.) in the absence of oxygen. Stand oil is also called heat-bodied oil. It is not a good binder because it is too viscous……

* The viscosity of an oil has NO NEGATIVE IMPACT on grinding with dry pigment to make paint, and it is easily proven that (thickened) polymerized linseed oil will dry
to the TOUGHEST film of linseed oil. It is much stronger as a binder than UNPOLYMERIZED ( thin/ not thickened) linseed oil. Its just EASIER to grind unpolymerized
linseed oil with dry pigment, than it is to grind polymerized linseed oil with dry pigment into paint.

H: Sun-thickened oil was the polymerized oil from the 18th century and Stand oil from the 19th century.

* This statement contains an obvious typographical error. The author must have meant to say that PRIOR to the 19th century, the polymerized, MODERN ALKALI
REFINED STAND OIL did not exist. Prior to the 19th century, artists used several methods to THICKEN ( polymerize) their oil. Sun Thickening was the best of the
methods, though there were other organic non-chemical methods.

H: Henry W. Levison . Undoubtedly, yellowing in the dark is the result of thermally induced oxidative reactions. …. [long article eliminated because the results are simple, as shown
next].

* MY NOTE: The Levison study was a scientific effort to demonstrate how linseed oil paintings, stored in darkness WILL become more yellowish in tone. Science
proves what the Old Masters already knew. It also showed that the purity of the paint, and the elimination of the yellow has a simple solution: the expose of the
painting to sunlight.
MY NOTE: the remainder of the article has information that is often repeated and found in many sources, and has been deleted.

MY NOTE: See the study by H.W.Levison at http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic24-02-002.html*

HOW DOES LINSEED/FLAX OIL DRY?
Science proves linseed oil does not dry by evaporation, but through oxidation. The following quoted
excerpts are from an academic source:

period of exposure to air. …. The term "drying" is actually somewhat of a misnomer …the oil does not
harden through the evaporation of water or other solvents, but through a chemical reaction in which
oxygen is absorbed from the environment …… The "drying", hardening, or, more properly, curing of
oils is the result of an exothermic reaction

... One simple technique for monitoring the early stages of the drying process is to measure weight
change in an oil film over time. Initially, the film becomes heavier, as it absorbs large amounts of
oxygen. ……Then oxygen uptake ceases, and the weight of the film declines as volatile compounds
are lost to the environment.…
Moisture generally refers to the presence of water, often in trace amounts… Moisture is also
sometimes used to refer to the liquid form of solvents other than water… http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Moisture

… A solvent is a liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. The
most common solvent in everyday life is water. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvent

Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by most plants and some microorganisms…Mucilage in
plants is thought to aid in water storage and seed germination …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucilage

[ end of academic source quotation]

My tests show that exposing linseed oil OUTDOORS to HIGH heat and DRY ventilation of summer sun
will create a FAST drying ( within 30 hours or less) viscous oil ( the moisture in the oil is evaporated by
the heat). And, my tests show that exposing linseed oil INDOORS in the shade, to no HEAT of sun, and
ventilation that is not dry, will result in a slow drying viscous oil ( the oil continues to retain its natural
moisture). The article above describes the ABSORPTION of oxygen as the oil is ‘drying’. We know
moisture has mass and WEIGHT. We know oxygen contains certain amounts of moisture, depending on
the humidity ( the oil absorbs it and gains in weight).
And, we know moisture will EVAPORATE from the oil ( causing the oil to lose weight).

CLEANSING UNREFINED FLAX OIL OF ITS MUCILAGE
'THE REBIRTH OF THE OLD MASTERS' SUPERIOR OIL'

THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OIL PAINTING
IS THE CLEANSING OF THE UNREFINED FLAX OIL of its MUCILAGE

This invisible, complex ingredient, natural to FLAX oil causes Linseed/FLAX oil to become brown over time as the oil absorbs oxygen and
moisture for hundreds of years. The moisture causes the mucilage to ferment, decompose and turn brown.
IF NOT removed from the oil, it causes paint made with it, to become lower in tonal Values, lower in Chromatic brilliance,
and alters purity of Hue. Science has proven it is Mucilage and NOT the LINSEED/FLAX oil that DARKENS a painting.
My photos below should convince the most difficult unbeliever of this danger. Science also proves that Resins in oil paint become yellow and
brittle with age. The book has several methods to cleanse your unrefined oil of mucilage.
It takes EIGHT TO TEN days and results in oil that is far superior to any LINSEED OIL on the market today.

Modern Industrial refinement of Linseed/Flax oil uses caustic lye chemicals to remove the mucilage from the oil...the problem is
that this refinement process also removes the very important fatty acids that give the oil its durability, hardness on drying, and that
ever important pliability that allows paint made with it to last for hundreds of years. Yes, it is the important fatty acids in the oil that
cause the yellowing, but, the yellowing is not a real problem.

OIL Paintings in well lighted rooms do not yellow.
The real problem is the irreversible ' browning' caused by the mucilage if it is not removed.

MY NEW BOOK DESCRIBED ON THE MAIN PAGE
GIVES THE NEW METHOD ON REMOVING THE MUCILAGE FROM THE FLAX OIL
IN ONE DAY..THE RECIPE IS ON THE LAST PAGE

PLEASE SEE MY MAIN WEBSITE PAGE-- ON HOW TO BLEACH AND THICKEN THE OIL IN 10-15 DAYS
BY USE OF AN AQUARIUM AIR PUMP

LINSEED OIL and FLAX OIL are in our modern world, NOT ONE AND THE SAME,
even though both are pressed from the same FLAX SEED.
IT IS ABOUT "TRUTH-IN-LABELING" LAWS, HERE IS WHY:

GROUP ONE IS LABELED: LINSEED OIL
There are NO 'LIN' seeds in nature. Linseed oil is pressed from 'FLAX SEEDS."
The oil with the word, 'LINSEED OIL", is sold for industrial purposes, such as for waterproofing wood, boats, etc, and for making artists tube paints and for making mediums. It is sold in hardware stores,
and some is sold in art stores for artists to use.

GROUP TWO IS LABELED " FLAX OIL" or " FLAX SEED OIL".
The oil with the label, "FLAX OIL", is sold in health food stores and is traditionally intended for human consumption...now..ARTISTS have discovered its important SUPERIOR properties that are missing in
the highly processed and refined art store 'Linseed oil". UNREFINED FLAX OIL is closest to the natural oil used by the Old Masters.
This oil is UNREFINED and must be cleansed before it is used by artists. It is the "SUPERIOR /LINSEED/FLAX OIL" of the Old Masters, once it has been organically cleansed and slowly sun thickened.

I use the Flax Oil sold by the Barleans Company.
The label says it is Unrefined, unfiltered Cold Pressed. Though I know this oil is subjected to up to 110 degrees F., by the machinery used during pressing of
powerful machinery, I believe this low temperature for a few hours does not harm the oil.

IN FACT, after it is cleansed at home, the oil will be placed in hot summer direct sun rays for 30 continuous days, with temperatures varying from 90 to 100 degrees
Fahrenheit. This HIGH QUALITY oil is much less expensive than ALL the industrial linseed oils. Like all unrefined oils, it MUST be cleansed before sun thickening.

NOTE: The linseed oil sold by Barleans comes in two grades; Light clear yellow and dark cloudy 'particulate filled".
When the Linseed oil is pressed with high pressure, the seeds are ruptured causing the oil to be cloudy with much 'particulate' ( sediment, husks, mucilage)
included in the oil. The oil is allowed to settle for a period ( the company does not say how long). The dark colored particulate eventually settles and the clear oil
rises. Both are bottled and sold.

The clear oil is the one to buy, but even this clear oil must be cleansed before sun thickening because like ALL UNREFINED, UNFILTERED COLD PRESSED LINSEED
OILS, it contains much particulate and much of it is microscopic in size and invisible to the unaided human eye.

Do not buy the DARK OIL with added 'particulate', the label says, " HIGHEST LIGNAN" , as it is unnecessary work for you to cleanse.
DO NOT BUY ANY OIL CONTAINING ANTIOXIDANTS SUCH AS: Vitamin E, tocopherols, Polypherols, Rosemary etc
DO NOT BUY ANY OIL MADE FOR PET HEALTH. It contains antioxidants.

MUCILAGE : PROOF OF ITS DARKENING AND BROWNING
The photo on your left shows the freshly gathered Mucilage. It is pale, white opaque that you see on the bottom of the jar. The next photo shows the same jar 45 days later and the Mucilage is becoming brown.
Notice the oil is becoming lighter by exposure to a sunny room with sunlight -NOT due to direct SUN RAYS. The third photo shows the same jar. Now the oil has become almost colorless and the mucilage is
brown. The last photo on your right was taken 12 months after the first photo. It shows the brown umber color of the mucilage. This is the proof of that mucilage will cause oil paint to darken and brown , if not
removed. The Old Masters knew this. Notice the oil is very pale. Notice the very large PURE WHITE COLORLESS oil bubble. This bubble is the thinness used in oil painting layers. ( All Photos on this website
are copyright protected, 2004-2008)

PHOTOS OF SAFELY CLEANSED UNREFINED FLAX OIL
IT IS the finest Linseed/Flax oil available today,
and superior to any Industrial Linseed Oil on the market.

PHOTO ON YOUR LEFT shows the cleansed oil after 5 days.
PHOTO ON YOUR RIGHT shows the cleansed oil after it was Sun Thickened. The artist
determines the degree of viscosity of the oil. The longer it is left exposed to the sun, the thicker it
becomes.Rembrandt used a very viscous oil,Velazquez preferred a moderately thick oil.

CLEANSED UNREFINED FLAX OIL IS EASY TO SUN THICKEN
SEE THE DVD FOR A DEMONSTRATION
Cennino Cennini, the 15th century Renaissance master wrote that Sun Thickened Linseed oil is the
finest oil for oil painting.His words resound loudly to today's oil painters.

This is the SUPERIOR OIL of the OLD MASTERS

A NOTE ON HOW
THE OLD MASTERS CLEANSED THEIR
OIL OF MUCILAGE:

Some websites use the EASTLAKE method of
'washing' their oil with Sand , Salt, and Water. It
is a long laborious method. The method is only
one of numerous methods contained in old
manuscripts.

Mr Charles Eastlake .....
was NOT AN OLD MASTER.
He was a 19th century theoretician who
researched older manuscripts- along with many
other scholars- in trying to RECONSTRUCT the
Methods the Old Masters used to cleanse their
oil. Mr. Eastlake was and is highly respected for
his efforts, HOWEVER, Science has proven him
wrong on many counts. He like others did not
have today's science, and he used his best
guesses to make statements.

Francisco PACHECO ... WAS an Old Master
.... and he was the teacher of Diego
VELAZQUEZ.. Pacheco taught Velazquez his
simple and QUICK method on how to cleanse his
unrefined oil by using Lavender Flowers,
Alcoholic liquor and sunshine. That complete
method is included in my book. The method
removes all the damaging mucilage from the oil
within one day.

VELAZQUEZ paintings are in excellent condition
when their age of 350 years is considered.
Pacheco's method has proven itself to be
permanent and Archival. EASTLAKE'S
reconstruction method
has not yet stood the test of time.

THE NEW DVD DEMONSTRATES THE PSYLLIUM -ALCOHOL
METHOD
Now available on Amazon, the new DVD, "OIL PAINTING WITH
CALCITE SUN OIL"
is 90 minutes of narration and live demonstrations of important
procedures described on my site and book.
One of the main complaints of artists is that books are important but
live demonstrations are sometimes the very best way to learn art
related subjects. I would have loved to have watched Rembrandt
paint. I am no Rembrandt but the demonstrations will show how
easy, effective and powerful the CSO/EMULSIONS method is.
Only the PSYLLIUM-ALCOHOL METHOD will be demonstrated in
full, as I have found it to be the easiest to do and most effective
method of all. I was inspired by Pacheco's 17th century method, but
his method leaves a lavender solvent in the oil from the use of the
flowers. This NEW Psyllium-Alcohol method is completely safe.

I RECOMMEND DOUBLE FILTERING OF THE CLEANSED OIL
AND USE OF ALCOHOL NOT STRONGER THAN 101 PROOF.
The reason I recommend you filter the cleansed oil twice is because of the cotton ball filter. If it
is not placed in correctly, some of the loose mucilage flows past it. A second filtering will catch
the loose mucilage.
My DVD does not make that requirement clear enough. ALSO. I recommend use of liquor not
stronger an 101 proof. The higher ethanol content liquors work well with PACHECOS method,
but do not contain sufficient water to inflate the husk.

THE FOLLOWING OIL CLEANSING METHODS ARE DESCRIBED IN
THE BOOK
1. THE VEL-TAUB METHOD: 2.THE PACHECO METHOD
3. THE CROCK POT METHOD:

THE NEW BOOK HAS THE NEWEST METHOD
OF REMOVING THE MUCILAGE FROM THE OIL
IT IS CALLED: 'THE CSO-GEL METHOD" IT TAKES ONE DAY
TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS INSTEAD OF 10 DAYS WITH
THE CURRENT" PSYLLIUM-ALCOHOL METHOD"

posted 3/3/2012

A BRIEF HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF CLEANSING
THE LINSEED/FLAX OIL FOR OIL PAINTING:
The best reference source I have read on this subject is by A.P. Laurie, in his book, “The Painter’s Methods and Materials”, Dover Publications, New York, 1967.
This book has withstood the test of time, and is still available. A.P. Laurie was a scientist* with a special interest in Artist‘s materials and historical manuscripts.

Mr. Laurie cites ancient manuscripts on the subject of how ‘drying’ oils were cleansed. He begins with a 5th century account by Aetius, and mentions the 8th
century Lucca Manuscript, then mentions Theophilus in the 11th century , Eraclius in the 13th century, and Cennino Cennini in the 14th century, concluding that
linseed, poppy and walnut oils were processed and used since ancient times. He relates that the extracted oil, by however means it is extracted, is NOT pure, that
it contains impurities, mucilage, and other foreign matter. He states that fresh extracted oil dries very slowly and that artists made the oil dry faster by processing it
in a variety of forms; boiling, exposure to air, and exposure to sun and air. He cites that the bleaching of oils by sun exposure was known in the time of
Dioscorides, and that boiling oil with litharge was known in the time of Galen, A.D., 103-193.

Mr. Laurie states that the method of mixing the oil with water came much later in history, that processing the oil by exposing it to air sun and water was a much
more recent development that dates to Padre Gesuato of 1557 and even more recently in the De Mayerne manuscript of 1620. I note that the dates of these later
developments - washing oil with water- coincide with following the Italian Renaissance of the early 1500’s when experimentation and seeking knowledge was the
norm.

Since the industrial revolution of the 19th century, raw materials of all kinds are processed for the market as efficiently and quickly as possible. The main force
behind the market is to earn a profit. Under those conditions, the product frequently suffers, though technology has made modern life more convenient.
Artist’s linseed oil is produced on a very large scale for a world wide market. Gone are the days of the Van Eycks and Rembrandt when the flax seeds were
pressed with a hand manipulated screw press to extract the oil. Even today’s cold pressed linseed oil is extracted by machinery that inadvertently warms up the oil
because of the friction of the high pressure machinery. I was assured by a USA manufacturer of flax oil ( which is the same oil as linseed oil) that the temperature
of the oil never reaches the boiling point. I am aware of only one company that claims to use no electrical machinery in pressing the oil, and that is the “Old
Holland” company in The Netherlands. They claim to use only windmill power as was done in the 17th century. Most linseed oil today is labeled as Alkali Refined
Linseed Oil because it is treated with a caustic chemical called Sodium Hydroxide in their Alkali Refinement process to cleanse the oil.

The Alkali Refinement of Linseed/flax oil has removed important molecular components of the oil and caused it to become a very slow drying oil. Knowing this, I
have sought out the pure cold pressed Unrefined, Unfiltered linseed oil. Unrefined linseed oil requires cleansing, but cleansing as the Old Masters did it…without
caustic chemicals.

END OF PAGE

LINSEED OIL VS FLAX OIL - THE DIFFERENCE !!

MY EXPERIMENTS IN THE REMOVAL OF MUCILAGE FROM THE UNREFINED FLAX OIL

Several years ago I began the task of trying ancient and newer methods to remove the mucilage. I spent a lot of time studying
encyclopedias on the subject of chemistry.
Several years ago I identified PSYLLIUM HUSK as an important NEW ingredient unknown to the Old Masters.
I have been asked how I came to made that important ingredient choice.
Its comical, but had I been a young man, I never would have thought of Psyllium Husk as beneficial to this study. However being past
60 years, the body gets sluggish and one learns how Psyllium Husk works. Its just Magical.
It puffs up when it comes in contact with water, moisture or dampness. PSYLLIUM HUSK is one of the most important ingredients I
developed and it was in direct response to the use of PACHECO of lavender flowers. BEFORE identifying Physillium Husk, I tried
numerous ingredients and At one time I had EIGHT 4X8 tables covered with jars of experiments. They were everywhere .

THE METHODS IN MY BOOK AND ON THIS SITE ARE THE CULMINATION OF THE STUDIES.
ALL OF THEM WORK VERY WELL. I am grateful to Francisco Pacheco's knowledge that allowed me to develop my Psyllium-Alcohol
Method which is based on his.

The PSYLLIUM-ALCOHOL METHOD is by far the easiest. BUT the new improved instructions of that method in the book have been
upgraded and are on my site. I do understand the oil problems of my friends who bought my book living in Alaska, Amsterdam,
Maine Canada and lots of cold European countries. ON MY PAGE: BOOK CONTENTS, I place all new Developments. Please read
the new development on how to make HOTPLATE OIL in cold climates or in winter. My hope is that as artists discover the great
superiority of the SUPERIOR OIL of the Old Masters, that some day the demand will cause wealthy investors to finally produce it to
all artists worldwide. I will be so proud to have been a pioneer to get that accomplished. Meanwhile we are left on our own to produce
our own superior oil

WARNING! DENATURED ALCOHOL !!
I cannot stress enough for artists who experiment with cleansing the oil...that they avoid use of DENATURED ALCOHOL. This
substance is inexpensive and is pure ethanol with added toxic chemicals to prohibit humans from drinking it. This is caused by Tax
laws and regulation. To cleanse the oil effectively, alcoholic liquor has sufficient ethanol alcohol to do the job, and liquor's content of
water helps too in that it causes the husk to puff up, something pure alcohol will not do.
DENATURED ALCOHOL IS DANGEROUS and I personally suffered damage to both of my eyes, leading me to obtain medical care.
Both eye whites turned blood red and my skin area was also chaffed . Months later, I lost sight in one eye for 6 weeks. So, please be
careful.

THE NEW BOOK IS AVAILABLE
IN PRINT OR KINDLE
AT AMAZON.COM
and all online book sellers
SEE MY HOME PAGE for information
on how to receive a FREE DVD

CALCITE SUN OIL