OMS

[Booboostamper]

I just purchased a set of Prismacolor premeir Lightfast pencils and now I need to find some OMS or something to use with them. Does anyone know what is best to use with them? Also an OMS that is not hazardous or harmful to breath in and use? My DH is the safety rep. at his work and works with all sorts of chemicals and I can already hear him if I bought the Mona Lisa OMS that I saw at Michaels the other day;) I though it would say OMS on the bottle and after more reading on here I found out that it is actually the Paint Thinner and that had warning stickers on the outside so I figured it couldn't be the same thing everyone is using....or atleast I hoped it wasn't. ANy input would be great...I can't wait to start to use the pencils:-D

Gail


www.gailscraftcorner.blogspot.com

[Bellegirl]

Hi Gail,
Well, I did just buy the Mona Lisa brand of OMS to use with my new Prismas. Yes, it is dangerous, like any petroleum product, if one is not careful. It does concern me. Yet, here's what I did. I have a craft sponge that I put in a glass jar that has a screw top lid. I carefully poured a little OMS onto the sponge, just enough to know the sponge absorbed it, but not too much where I could actually see excess liquid. Then, I just dipped my stump to the sponge and could see the OMS wet the end of stump. Then,I promptly closed my container of OMS and worked with the stump on my colored image. I just repeated this process as necessary(opened the jar and touched my stump to the sponge only) to blend my colored areas. To be honest, I never smelled the OMS, so I felt ok with how I was doing. I used Goo-Gone, in another jar, this same way, yet the Goo-Gone has an orange smell, which I hate. This product is a solvent too, so one must also use similar precautions. I don't know if I've answered any of your questions or concerns about this technique. I did like how both products blended my pencil colors.

Good luck!
Bonnie

[Novell]

Yes, the Mona Lisa is the same OMS that people are using. I poured some into a sponge top bottle which really limits any odor, I think, because not a lot of liquid is sitting on the top. I'm not sticking my nose down into it or anything so I'm really not worried about the little bit of stuff I'm exposing myself to. Plus, it's not something I use everyday or for long periods of time. Using the sponge top bottle also helps in case you knock the darn bottle over. You won't be spilling all over your project or all over your work table and ruining it.

[clpangels]

You can also use baby oil and zest it

[Bellegirl]

I'd prefer the "sponge top" bottle, but where do purchase these?

Thanks!

[Novell]

Check the craft store. My friend actually gave me a Tim Holtz sponge top that happened to fit a plastic bottle I already had but I bet you can find something at a craft or maybe even office supply store.

[just_v]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Booboostamper

I though it would say OMS on the bottle and after more reading on here I found out that it is actually the Paint Thinner and that had warning stickers on the outside so I figured it couldn't be the same thing everyone is using....or atleast I hoped it wasn't. ANy input would be great...I can't wait to start to use the pencils:-D

OMS or Odorless Mineral Spirits is a solvent. Not something I wanted in my house with two littles and twenty curious fingers running loose in the house. I used baby oil initially with good results. I wasn't worried about my daughter poking her fingers in it, so that make it an easy choice to experiment and decide if I wanted to invest in this coloring method.

Once I decided I did like it, I went on a hunt for something that I would feel equally comfortable using. OMS was definitely NOT it and I can't stand the smell of Goo Gone. It may be orange, but it's overwhelmingly so in my opinion. I use Zest-It that I ordered from England. It took 2 weeks to get it from there to Oklahoma, but it was so worth the wait. It has a very faint orange scent to it, but I rarely ever notice it. Even better, it's eco-friendly and the MSDS sheet on it didn't give me a heart attack.

I have compared the MSDS on it and the Eco-House brand Xtra Mild Citrus Thinner and they read almost identical, so I would expect it to work just as fabulously as the Zest-It. And it's available in the US from Dick Blick, so a little easier to order. I saw someone else commenting about another product from Eco-House, the NeutralThin is truely odorless and hypoallergenic, so that might be another alternative.

V