Re: SB: turpentine, citrus, and good and bad solvents

[Beeguild@aol.com]

Interesting Issues

In most large hardware stores in the Mid-Atlantic area the do now make an 
artificial turpentine, so, but it is usually clearly labeled as such.  In 
those same stores you can still buy pint sized bottles of turpentine that 
smells like turpentine always smells.  I very much doubt that they have 
altered the real turpentine in a significant way as like mineral spirits and 
denatured alcohol it would no longer be turpentine.  Thus the existence of 
the 'faux' less expensive turpentine in the larger bottles.

I like the citrus solvents largely because they smell nice, but I do have 
some doubts, perhaps unfounded, as to their safety.  For example, what of the 
pesticide residue on the citrus hulls?  Many pesticides are dissolvable in 
such solvents and there is no mention that the citrus they use in creating 
these thiners are unsprayed, so one must assume that  pesticides could be a 
significant contaminant.  

Similarly, both pine gum and citrus oils are created by plants as natural 
pesticides or repellents, something the plant does to keep things that like 
to eat it away.  The chemistry of those oils and gums is much more complex 
than mineral spirits and the health concerns could be higher rather than 
lower than mineral spirits or alcohol, they are simply untested.  

Witness the effects of other natural plant materials designed to also keep 
things away such as black walnut oil.  Just the sawdust of this plant has 
enough oil in it to cause horses to founder and kills many plants outright.  
Another good example is poison ivy, a plant whose oil a number of us have 
experienced with unpleasant consequences.

Well, now look at this, I seem to be on a soapbox, better get down or I will 
get lightheaded.

Had fun today putting earth plasters over lath on my addition.  I was 
impressed by how little plaster it took and how fast it went.

sam 
droege

In a message dated 10/20/2002 10:48:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
absteen@dakotacom.net writes:


> I would think that to be the case.  In fact, we purchased a number of 
> gallons one day from Ace Hardware.  The smell has little resemblance to 
> what I remember buying years ago.  The amount of additives, synthetics, 
> or whatever make the stuff almost unbearable.  Perhaps what happens is a 
> lot like what happens to Tequila.  You can buy a product that is made 
> from one excellent species and is fermented using only the natural 
> sugars of the plant.  Or.....you can make it by using a little of that 
> basic species, through in a bunch of whatever else you can get your 
> hands on, some synthetic flavor, keep costs down by substituting lots of 
> sugar for the number of plants needed and finally throw in some other 
> junk and you can sell it real cheap.  Something similar must happen to 
> turpentine because the real stuff sure costs a whole heck of a lot, just 
> like good tequila these days.
>