Why does Odorless Mineral Spirits smell so bad?

[Bill Huber]

I don't get it, I have been buying Klean-Strip Odorless Mineral Spirits and it smells.

I always thought that odorless meant that it did not smell but that stuff sure does.

You look up odorless and it states "Having no odor" so is odor different that stinks or smell?

[Rich Engelhardt]

"Odorless" is sort of misleading...
Petro based solvents come in two major flavors - one of which most WW'ers are familiar with - the aliphatic family.
The other, the aromatic family, is one WW'ers often see, but, don't really know what they are looking at (or smelling ;)).

In short - all aliphatic solvents contain some small portion of aromatic hydrocarbons. That's what gives the solvent it's "sharpness" (the ability to dissolve).
That aromatic component is, more or less, the portion that determines the "strength" of the solvent as well as it's rate of evaporation - ie - the more it has, the stronger it is and the faster it "flashes off".

For two "real world" examples of the two - look at common lamp oil and lighter fluid.
Both stink - but - the stink is very distictive.
Lamp oil stinks like - well - oil...
Lighter fluid stinks - but - it's a different kind of stink.
It has (for lack of a better term) a somewhat "metallic" stink. You can not only smell it, you can almost "taste" it.
Lamp oil is an aliphatic.
Lighter fluid (which is really nothing but Napatha) is an aromatic. ( while it's not a pure aromatic - for the purpose of this discussion - assume it is).

So - as you can see - aromatic has little to do with the actual amount of "odor" and more to do with the type of "odor".

Odorless mineral spirits is regular mineral spirits which has had all the aromatic components removed.
The result is that it has none of the "brain eating" aromatics & is a bit weaker as far as a solvent goes.
It also evaporates slower - which can be a good thing if you wish to make a solvent based coating (oil based paint or varnish) flow out better for brushing....
Or.
A bad thing if you wish to reduce said oil based paint or varnish for spraying.

Most common solvents (thinners) you buy, that are of the aliphatic family, are really a blend of aromatics and aliphatics.
Lacquer thinner is a blend of aliphatic, aromatic and oxygenated (the "tone" family - acetone, ketone - Plus - the alcohols).
Even the somewhat oddball ones you see on the shelf - Xylol and Toulol - both of which are heavy aromatic solvents, are not 100% pure aromatic.
The $10 quart of Xylol on the shelf at Lowes is a bargin compared to the small 2 ounce bottle of 100% pure medicinal grade Xylol on the shelf at the med center,,,,,that runs about $30.
@ this point - you may wonder what this has to do w/the price of tea in china & oderless mineral spirits.....

Aromatics, due to their molecular makeup, can "dissolve and carry" certain "nasties" through the human skin.
The short answer here is if you need or want to remove oil based paint or varnish from your hands,,,,use waterless hand cleaner(keroscene - a very heavy aliphatic w/little to no aromatic content) or odorless paint thinner.

HTH..(and doesn't confuse too much)

[Troy Turner]

Bill - Never paid much attention to the oderless spirits. I usually buy the low-odor and it is well, low to no odor that bothers me anyway. I made a mistake one time of buying regular MS and realized that I had bought the wrong one when I opened it.

The low odor has a small odor but quickly disappears (or I get used to it) when I'm in my shop.

[Prashun Patel]

Bill,
There is no standard for the word 'odorless'. In theory, odorless ms is mineral spirits that's had its impurities removed, but it's my opinion that trace impurities remain - likely sulfur based - that are practically difficult to remove completely.

If it really bothers you, LMK your address and I'll send you some ALMOMS (A little more odorless mineral spirits). The stuff I buy for my company has a higher purity and odor spec than does the retail stuff.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I had the same thought when I opened my first can of odorless mineral spirits. I don't feel like the word "odorless" is ambiguous. It means no odor. The label is pretty misleading... False advertising?

Although at the end of the day it doesn't bother me much.

[Mel Fulks]

This reminds me of using fish emulsion on plants .It has no odor ,only an extreme stench. I recently bought what was labeled turpentine ,it has a sickening smell that is nothing like real turpentine.

[Jeff Duncan]

I don't know about the technical aspects of it...but my gut feeling is you do NOT want any toxic chemical to be completely odorless. The odor is there to tell your body/brain not to ingest this, and as such is pretty important. If it had no odor at all I think it would be significantly more dangerous.

JeffD

[Brian Brightwell]

I worked in a chemical plant for 23 years and that smell won't bother you. You will have other problems though. I can't smell shiiiiii........
Luckily I can still breath.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Obviously.......I typed a whole lot for no good reason....

Odorless means it lacks any of the family of aromatic hydrocarbons.
It has nothing what so ever to do with the smell.

Just as boiled linseed oil never was, is not and never will be "boiled"......

[Brian Brightwell]

Obviously.......I typed a whole lot for no good reason....

Odorless means it lacks any of the family of aromatic hydrocarbons.
It has nothing what so ever to do with the smell.

Just as boiled linseed oil never was, is not and never will be "boiled"......

That's OK Rich I gave a long explanation about monomers one time and somebody ask if I spent the night in a Holiday Inn. LOL
I liked your answer.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Obviously.......I typed a whole lot for no good reason....

Odorless means it lacks any of the family of aromatic hydrocarbons.
It has nothing what so ever to do with the smell.

Just as boiled linseed oil never was, is not and never will be "boiled"......

Obviously you're too smart for the rest of us! lol ;-)

You took the scientific route with your answer, which truly does answer the question of why it stinks (which obviously is the title of this thread). But taking it a step further than the science, does the average Joe at the home center read the word "odorless" on the front of a can and think to himself, "Oh, awesome!!! No Aromatic Hydrocarbons! It's still going to stink, but man, I sure do hate those aromatic hydrocarbons! I'll take it!"

Probably not.

The average consumer will think, "Oh, odorless means no odor. Great! I would prefer no odor over something with odor! I'll take it!"

I find that misleading and mildly annoying. But I use "odorless" mineral spirits all the time, and I don't mind it that much. So no harm, no foul.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Rich, very informative answer, and much appreciated. I am always amazed at the depth and breath of knowledge some creekers possess.

Best regards, Patrick

[Mel Fulks]

Rich, thanks for that detailed explanation of "odorless". It is indeed helpful. After looking it up in the unabridged Oxford and not finding it used in the way you have described ,I must call its use on the labels of products sold in small quantities intended for homeowners deceptive. It mixes industrial technical jargon with colloquial use in a way that that that is niether scientifically well described or easily understood by most buyers.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Mel,
I tend to agree - it's misleading to say the least.
To compund the issue, as Prashun mentioned, there are low and no sulphur petro based solvents that also carry the moniker of "odorless".
Those are generally sold via the arts and crafts market as low odor solvents for artists oil paints.
& also - in a "the devil is in the details" kind of way, Sherwin Williams sells an "odorless mineral spirits" that they say is "odorless" but - only in the context that it's an odorless substitute for turpentine.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rich, why do they call it boiled linseed oil then?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Steve,
I strongly suspect some artisan or craftsman or guild coined the term as a way of guarding their trade secret.

Linseed oil boils at 650* F and auto ignites at - - 650* F.
If you try to boil linseed oil, it catches fire a split second after it begins to boil.
If an artisan wished to protect his "secret formula" by calling his modified linseed oil - boiled - it would make a very good cover.
Anyone trying to reproduce the "secret" would have a rough time & risk burning down the whole shop - if not the entire village.

There is a flaxseed oil which is heated, but, it's not heated to it's boiling point.
Raw linseed oil is heated to roughly 500*F in a closed air tight container for three to five days.
The result is an oil called - stand oil.
Needless to say, in ancient times, this was a risky, dangerous and expensive process.
If the fires got too low, it would ruin the batch. If the fires got too hot, the container would explode.

It's easy to see what a huge advantage it would be to have a process to modify raw linseed oil w/out the risk of making stand oil & they would want to guard that secret as much as possible.

Course - it's just as easy to imagine that boiled linseed oil came about as another name for stand oil,,,,once the cat was out of the bag on adding driers to raw linseed oil as a substitute for the long involved heating process.

I really doubt anyone knows the real answer...

I do know for a fact that old fashioned varnish making - where the varnish was cooked over a gas oven - could turn into s real bon fire in a hurry.
There's still two of the old varnish buildings standing at the site of the old Glidden Paint factory on the corner of Berea and Madison Rd. in Cleveland.
Inside the buildings are huge cast iron kettles they used for cooking varnish. Up above the kettles are huge cast iron lids that are rigged to come down if the batch being cooked caught fire.
I never saw a fire there - but - I talked to a lot of the guys that worked in the plant that had seen some real spectacular displays - with flames shooting out of the tops of the buildings.
By the time I started working for Glidden in the late 1960's, the varnish production had been shut down there.
The kettles and lids were still in place. I wouldn't be surprised if they are still there today.