<p>If you really, really, don't care about lightfastness, paint permanence, and brittleness, then you have a few choices out of the local supermarket:</p>

<ul>
<li>Safflower oil</li>
<li>Sunflower oil</li>
<li>Walnut oil</li>
</ul>

<p>Some of these have either been used historically or are becoming more common in oil paints, but will have been refined much better than what you'll get in the store. Either way, I would experiment with your paints a bit with these and see what works best and then cook with what doesn't. :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-19T00:29:07.720Z
@CreationEdge - No, I use artist grade linseed myself, I don't have a financial constraint there. I know that these oils, when well refined, get used in paints, but if there's no care for quality, then the consumer cooking variants should suffice.
Joanne C
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-19T00:48:16.267Z
These oils have also been used in woodworking for finishing things like breadboards.
Matt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-22T23:06:01.127Z
folowing the same logic (oil binders used by some paint manufacturer) i already tryied safflower and sunflower, and also soyand olive oils. i haven't been convinced. maybe i shoud not have mentioned supermarkets... are there other alternatives like hair oils, or DIY oils.
Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-23T14:32:10.957Z
@Reed - there is, after all, a reason why artist grade isn't cheap. You could try some additional purification strategies.
Joanne C
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-25T09:39:06.033Z
Cooking oils such as olive oil etc will never dry!  Buying cheap is a false economy, and you don't really need a lot of linseed oil...if you use mineral spirit as well then a little will go a long way.
Artemesia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-18T22:16:49.700Z
2016-05-18T22:16:49.700Z
Joanne C
<p>For craft use I am looking for a cheap alternative to linseed oil medium to use with oil paints. </p>

<p>The only oil mediums I seem to find are all “artist grade” and hence expensive. Cooked “cheap” industrial linseed oil is not available where I live.</p>

<p>So, are there any cheap drying oil alternatives, preferably easy to find, like in a supermarket?</p>

<oil-paint>
Are there any cheap alternatives to linseed oil?
Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land
# Are there any cheap alternatives to linseed oil?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-18)

For craft use I am looking for a cheap alternative to linseed oil medium to use with oil paints.

The only oil mediums I seem to find are all “artist grade” and hence expensive. Cooked “cheap” industrial linseed oil is not available where I live.

So, are there any cheap drying oil alternatives, preferably easy to find, like in a supermarket?

**Tags:** oil-paint


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-18. Score: 2

If you really, really, don't care about lightfastness, paint permanence, and brittleness, then you have a few choices out of the local supermarket:

* Safflower oil
* Sunflower oil
* Walnut oil

Some of these have either been used historically or are becoming more common in oil paints, but will have been refined much better than what you'll get in the store. Either way, I would experiment with your paints a bit with these and see what works best and then cook with what doesn't. :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @CreationEdge - No, I use artist grade linseed myself, I don't have a financial constraint there. I know that these oils, when well refined, get used in paints, but if there's no care for quality, then the consumer cooking variants should suffice.  
> **username_2**: These oils have also been used in woodworking for finishing things like breadboards.  
> **username_0**: folowing the same logic (oil binders used by some paint manufacturer) i already tryied safflower and sunflower, and also soyand olive oils. i haven't been convinced. maybe i shoud not have mentioned supermarkets... are there other alternatives like hair oils, or DIY oils.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 - there is, after all, a reason why artist grade isn't cheap. You could try some additional purification strategies.  
> **username_3**: Cooking oils such as olive oil etc will never dry!  Buying cheap is a false economy, and you don't really need a lot of linseed oil...if you use mineral spirit as well then a little will go a long way.  

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