Boiled linseed oil is created by doing exactly what its name says – ordinary linseed oil, also called flax seed oil, is taken as a raw vegetable product and boiled. Linseed oil itself is obtained through the pressing of flax seeds. There is an additional step in making it, which is one of solvent extraction.
Using Boiled Linseed Oil
Boiled linseed oil has long been used as a paint binder, and it has also been used as a wood finish rub. Boiled linseed oil will create a beautiful, lustrous surface on finished wood when rubbed in, and then allowed to dry. Several coats are often needed to create the maximum depth in the surface.
When ordinary linseed oil is boiled, the heating process causes the oil to oxidize and turn into a polymer, which makes it thinner, and also shortens the boiled linseed oil’s drying time. While boiled linseed oil in the past was purely that, today’s products labeled as boiled linseed oil are a mixture; usually containing petroleum based solvents and metallically based dryers.
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