Why Does Oil Paint Take So Long to Dry?


Only in some cases and if the paint is applied in very thick layers, the paint takes a long time to dry. Demand is yet to be determined and paint drying time will depend on the thickness and number of coats of oil applied.

Oil paints take so long to dry because they are layered and dry via oxidation. Many paints dry by evaporation; oil paints do not. Instead, they dry because they react with the air. Moreover, oil paintings have layers, and each layer dries separately from the others. The bottom dries last because it lacks air exposure.

The actual surface you paint on will affect the expected drying time, with some more common surfaces taking longer than others. The thicker the paint layer, the longer it will take to dry due to the oxidation process, and the longer it will take to process the entire paint and dry completely.

Using acrylic paint won’t necessarily speed up the drying time of your oil paint, but using it for the first coats will speed up the overall painting process. Depending on the color, some oil paints dry a little slower than others, but if you’re working with a smooth, thin, matte coat of paint, your painting will likely dry within 24 hours.

Keep in mind that thinning the paint with oil will lengthen the drying time rather than shorten it. Since the oxidation process works on an exponential scale, even a slight decrease in the amount of oil paint you use in your coats can dramatically change drying time.

How Oil Paint Changes After Drying

When dry, the paint will harden and dry due to oxidation, which will take longer. The moisture evaporates from the paint, not the paint, so it doesn’t dry out like acrylic paint. The chemical reaction causes the adhesive paint to harden or harden, which also packs the pigment into the permanent finish. Evaporation refers to a paint film that differs from conventional paint.

Working with oil paint gives you a certain degree of flexibility when painting because it takes longer to dry than other substrates. After applying oil paint, wait up to 24 hours before touching the surface to allow it to dry completely. There is a rule: the thicker the paint is applied, the longer it dries.

Keep in mind that any oil-based thinner will shorten the drying time of the paint. Oil paint that has a slow dry time should be layered over thinner paint (for example, although there are situations and painting styles where you may need a thicker coat of oil paint where you can use one of the other methods described in this article to dry it faster, but in most cases you can just use thinner coats of paint.

Materials Can Be Added to Accelerate the Drying

It’s just the oil itself, and some drying materials, such as cobalt found in some paints, can make it dry faster. Walnut oil dries very slowly and I have had paintings that took up to four weeks to dry before the next coat could be applied. Applying the first thin coat of oil paint on the fastest drying paint takes about eight hours on average, but more ambitious work usually takes 24 hours to several weeks. Thin layers of paint can become tacky within an hour, while thick strokes of paint can take one to several days to dry.

If your layers are too thick, your painting will look dry on the surface but still feel wet to the touch even after a long time. If you apply a very thick coat of paint, a film will form on the surface, but the paint underneath will remain soft to the touch. Delamination is because paint that takes longer to cure will move a bit, and if you put a thin layer of brittle paint on it, it will dry first and then possibly crack. If the layers are really thin and the conditions are right, you can apply the primer the same day.

Keep in mind that paint thickness and room temperature will also affect the time it takes for your work to dry. For medium ink, dry to touch can take anywhere from 2 to 24 hours depending on the thickness of the ink, the number of coats used and the brand.

Tips for Increasing the Drying Rate of Oil Paint

Instead of waiting a day or two for a coat of oil paint to dry, you just need to wait a few minutes for your acrylic base to dry before applying the next coat. If you can maintain an even application of paint where you are getting coverage without over-saturating the area, your paint should dry within a day.

By incorporating a thinner such as turpentine, fir oil or unscented mineral spirits into the paint mixture, you can reduce the drying time to less than 12 hours, depending on the amount of thinner added. Be careful with the amount of thinner you use and only use it at the beginning of your coats as this causes the paint to dry quickly and can cause it to crack.

If you want to speed up the drying process, avoid paints that use safflower, walnut, or poppy seed oil and stick to linseed oil paints. You can also experiment with slow drying alkyds combined with fast drying oil pigments to help the overall painting dry faster. The drying oil oxidation process can take months, even up to a year if the paint is applied thickly.

Careless work can create uneven surfaces and paint builds up, so it takes longer to dry. When it comes to canvas and paint, many aspiring artists don’t realize that there are alternatives to the all-purpose primed canvas you see at stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby, which tend to cause oil paintings to dry more slowly. You can use something like lead-primed linen to let the oil paint dry as quickly as possible, but it adds cost, so we generally only recommend this method to professional-level artists.

Gene Botkin

Hello, I'm Gene. My family belonged to the aristocracy of Old Russia, and I created this site to re-establish a familial connection with them. My aims are to generate interest in aristocratic virtues, such as beauty, honor, and loyalty, and to spread Russian culture.

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