For me too, it has taken a long time to realize that the best thing is to give away the supplies that don’t serve me anymore. Just yesterday, I was going through the selection once again after the blog post, and today, I gave many away for someone local who has just started painting. But I also had to toss some because they didn’t work anymore. So, I can relate, thanks for commenting!!

Ha, we have been working on with the same thing! I believe that cleaning up is like gardening – it’s never ready and it’s good to come back and do it again after a while.

Dani, thank you for leaving a comment and starting a discussion about what to do with oil paints. You already got some great suggestions from Vicki and Rod. I would add a couple of things to consider.

First, I would see how yellowish the paints are. Linseed oil gets darker yellow when it ages, and yes that happens in paintings too, but do you want to start with the aged yellowish tone is worth considering. That would be my personal first concern.

Second, I would check the pigments. They are usually printed small on the tube and have letters and numbers like PY35. One tube can also consist of many different pigments. Old paints may have some pigments that are now considered toxic. And some pigments are less fade-resistant.

Third is to check the archival quality: are the paints artist quality or meant for hobbyist. Most brands have two separate collections so the brand name doesn’t necessarily tell the quality. If hobbyist quality, the pigments may be less strong and resistant so they may have aged more poorly.

I love them too! I get strange satisfaction of handling and cleaning them. I haven’t ever got into Neocolor 2 fever, maybe because I used to have some similar when I was a teenager and got fed up with them. It was nice to read about what you prefer and not, thank you!

Hi Dani,
I have the same dilemma with oil tubes that I have from my father. I have discover that even dry, I can dilute the colour with white spiritus or something like that and then I still can use the oil in tubes. I even have tubes that desintegratie and the paint inside is hard. But deluting on a glass plate it’s working. For me it’s both emotional to throw away the paint remenbering of my father and why not saving and re-using them as the old pigments are quite strong. Good luck with making a choice!

Dani, Lindsay Weirich (the frugal crafter) used some old oil paint to make oil sticks (like Sennelier, not oil pastels). There are several recipes online.

I ended up offering them to my family. Anything left behind will be given to a school.

And after all this, I’m pretty sure I still have a few supplies that I kept but will not use. Oh well… I tried.