Can I use stand oil for the whole painting?

Not in one sitting. Pure stand oil stays tacky for two to three days, which makes wet-into-wet work impossible and forces you into a strict layer-by-layer schedule. Most painters use it only in the last fat glazes.

Does stand oil cause yellowing?

Less than cold-pressed linseed, and far less than poppy oil. Yellowing is worst in dark, damp storage; a picture kept in daylight and re-varnished every few decades will show almost none.

A note in 4 layers

Linseed oil vs stand oil: choosing the right body

Both come from flax. The difference is what heat and oxygen do to the oil before it reaches your palette, and that difference decides whether a glaze levels into a mirror or holds every brush hair's track.

Section: Medium
Support: Oil
Drying: 亚麻仁油 24 小时；熟油 3–4 天
Published: 31 August 2026
Byline: By The Easel Desk

Paint film cross-section: Raw linseed addition 24h, Cold-pressed linseed 26h, Stand oil film 84h, Stand-oil glaze 96h — Ordered from the bottom of the film upward. Band height is that layer's drying time; the darker the band, the more oil it carries. The right-hand scale is cumulative drying hours.

What heat does to the molecule

Raw and linseed are mixtures of triglyceride molecules that cross-link only after they meet oxygen on the canvas. has already been held at around 250–300 °C without air, so its chains have partially joined. The result is roughly ten times the viscosity with none of the added drying speed.

That pre-joining is why levels: the long chains slide over each other and settle flat before oxidation locks the film. It is also why it dries slowly — many of the reaction sites are already used up.

Mixing proportions that work

For a general glazing medium, start with five parts odourless mineral spirits, three parts linseed oil and one part . That dries overnight, levels well and stays workable for about four hours in a sealed palette.

For the last pass, invert it: four parts , one part OMS, no linseed. This is the mix that gives the enamel-smooth surface associated with Dutch still life. Add a drop of cobalt drier only if the room is below 18 °C — with , over-dosing drier causes wrinkling.

Reading the film a week later

A linseed-rich film stays slightly open for days, which is friendly for reworking but collects dust. A stand-oil-rich film skins over faster than it dries through, so it feels dry while the layer below is still soft — do not rework it, and do not varnish it early.

Label your medium jar with the ratio and the date. When a passage has gone wrong three weeks later, the jar label is the only reliable record of what is actually on the canvas.

Choosing by job

Job	Use	Ratio	Dry to touch
Block-in	OMS only	—	4–6 h
General glaze	Linseed + OMS	3 : 5	18–24 h
Final glaze	Stand oil + OMS	4 : 1	3–4 days
Opaque impasto	Tube paint, no medium	—	2–4 days

Layer schedule

#	Layer	Technique	Mix	Dry
1	Raw linseed addition	1 drop per 10 ml — slows cure slightly	#C9A227	24 h
2	Cold-pressed linseed	Standard glazing medium base	#B8922A	26 h
3	Stand oil film	Thick, self-levelling, honey-like	#8A6E1F	84 h
4	Stand-oil glaze	50 % stand oil + 50 % OMS for enamel finish	#C0392B	96 h

Questions that come up

Can I use stand oil for the whole painting?: Not in one sitting. Pure stand oil stays tacky for two to three days, which makes wet-into-wet work impossible and forces you into a strict layer-by-layer schedule. Most painters use it only in the last fat glazes.
Does stand oil cause yellowing?: Less than cold-pressed linseed, and far less than poppy oil. Yellowing is worst in dark, damp storage; a picture kept in daylight and re-varnished every few decades will show almost none.

Materials and safety note

Drying times assume a ventilated studio at 20 °C and 50 % relative humidity; cold or damp conditions extend them substantially. Solvents and metal-bearing pigments (lead white, cadmiums, cobalts) belong in a ventilated space, out of prolonged skin contact, and lead-bearing paint does not belong on anything a child handles. This page is craft information, not materials-safety, health or conservation advice.