Some Important Safety Precautions dealing with these solvents;

• Adequate ventilation must be available, never in a confined room
• Eye protection & Respirator w/charcoal filters are a necessity
• Rubber latex gloves keep contaminants and chemicals from skin absorption
• All rags used should be laid out flat, wadded up is a fire hazard and could easily ignite
• All open flames such as pilot lights for water heaters, stoves, furnaces should be turned off

1. Mineral Spirits: Aliphatic Hydrocarbons similar to Lighter Fluids

• Typically used to thin varnishes, shellacs, and most alkyd oil based paints.
• Another name for Mineral Spirits is Paint Thinners.
• Used to clean paint splatters, brushes, spills, adding to paint only when recommended.
• Not as “Hot” as Lacquer Thinners

2. VM&P Naphtha:  Stands for Varnish Maker’s and Painters Naphtha Solvent

• Similar to Mineral Spirits, VM&P Naphtha used by Professional Painters as paint thinner
• VM&P Naphtha’s are faster drying allowing quicker second coats for some Alkyd Paints.

3. Lacquer Thinner Solvent:  Strong “Hot” Solvent based of Different Mixtures

• Used to thin Urethane, Alkyd, or Polyurethane Varnishes
• Being “Hot” Lacquer Thinners can melt Styrofoam, plastics, fiberglass. This product is extremely flammable.
• Great to use Lacquer Thinner cleaning brushes with dried oil based paints and stains.
• Lacquer Thinners can revive some wood fillers which have dried and hardened, being Lacquer Thinner based.

4. Denatured Ethyl Alcohol / Denatured Alcohol Solvent:

• Ethyl Alcohol is drinkable, Denatured is not
• Denatured Alcohol used in Shellac based primers
• Cannot substitute with rubbing alcohol or methanol

5. Xylene and Toluene Solvents:

• Xylene and Toluene primarily used in mixing with certain manufactures Enamels, Varnishes and Conversion Varnishes.
• Xylene and Toluene are very strong, these are some chemicals used within Lacquer Thinners, and some Paint Removers.
• Use only Xylene and Toluene when Paint manufacture recommends it’s specific addition for exact measurement.

All Solvents should have containers tightly closed in metal containers, placed into a fireproof metal cabinet when not in use. Painting Denver uses a metal storage cabinet housing all flammable solvents when not in use.

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