4 Best Uses for Linseed Oil

Overtime, experienced painters and woodworkers learn to appreciate linseed oil and its many uses when painting or staining wood. Linseed oil is also known as flax seed oil and has been a popular additive and conditioner for paints and stains for centuries. Here are some the best uses for linseed oil when painting or staining wood.

Great as a Wood Conditioner

If you ever tried to paint or stain certain types of wood, such as Pine or Poplar, you know that it is not always a straightforward process. Woods like Pine and Poplar can be extremely unpredictable at best. Sometimes, when trying to stain Pine or Poplar or paint it a light color, the finish can often appear blotchy or uneven. Linseed oil can help prevent this.

You may have heard that it is best to use a wood conditioner on some types of porous wood that really soak in stain. This is true; however, a commercial wood conditioner can be expensive. You can easily create your own high quality wood conditioner by mixing linseed oil and turpentine together and treating the wood with the mixture before painting or staining. The result will be a much better cohesive bond between the wood and paint or stain used to color the wood.

Drying Agent for Oil-Based Paints and Stains

If you live in an area where climate or humidity prolongs the drying time of enamel or oil based paint (or if you just want to speed the process of drying), you can add linseed oil to the paint. When added to paint, linseed oil acts as a natural drying agent that will decrease the amount of time needed for drying.

Linseed oil helps to speed the time needed for enamel paint to dry by bonding and pores is in wide grain woods with the paint. Therefore, if you're working with wood, such as Cedar or Maple, adding linseed oil to an enamel paint can help reduce the amount of time between coats of enamel paint considerably.

Use Linseed Oil To Cover Paint and Stain Soaking Knots

If you've ever tried to paint or stain wood with a lot of knots in it, you know that the sap-filled knots are hard to stain or suck up too much paint which causes the paint to be uneven. However, linseed oil can help solve this problem.

Take a mixture of 1/2 turpentine and 1/2 linseed oil and brush a generous amount on the knots before painting or staining. Apply the mixture on the the knots with a brush and wipe away any excess. Then, allow the linseed oil/turpentine mixture to sit on the wood overnight. When you come out to paint the wood in the morning, you'll notice that paint spreads almost as evenly over the knots as it does the rest of the wood. You'll also notice that the paint is much more uniform and that the knots suck up very little, if any, paint.

Use as a Light-Duty Daily Polish

If you have delicate wooden furniture made of softer woods such as Radiata Pine or Poplar, you can use linseed oil as a light-duty daily polish that will not plug the pores of the wood and prevent it from breathing. Take a mixture of 1/2 linseed oil and water and lightly spray it on furniture 2 or 3 times a week and wipe off with a dry towel. This will help keep your delicate furniture glossy and also help to protect the wood.