Linseed Oil (Paperback)

Linseed oil, also known as "flax seed oil" is a clear to yellowish oil obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant. The oil is obtained by cold pressing, sometimes followed by solvent extraction. Linseed oil can polymerize and the reaction is exothermic, and rags soaked in it can ignite spontaneously. Due to its polymer-like properties linseed oil is used on its own or blended with other oils, resins and solvents as an impregnator and varnish in wood finishing, as a pigment binder in oil paints, as a plasticizer and hardener in putty and in the manufacture of linoleum. It is an edible oil, but because of its strong flavor and odor is only a minor constituent of human nutrition, although it is marketed as a nutritional supplement. The use of linseed oil has declined over the past several decades with the increased use of alkyd resins, which are similar but partially synthetic materials that resist yellowing.