Jet Plane flying over DANIEL SMITH to land at nearby Boeing Field
We often get questions on how to pack oil paints when traveling by plane. So in our Seattle Store we have posted a copied page from one of our DANIEL SMITH Catalog articles to help answer the question.
In our DANIEL SMITH Summer Catalog for 2007, Artist Scott Burdick wrote an article with 3 travel scenarios in Packing to Paint where in addition to what to bring to paint with when traveling, he offered some tips for airline travel with Oil Paints.
“Airport Security – I’ve known several artists who have had their materials confiscated by airport security under the mistaken belief that oil paints are flammable. Since putting the following notice in with my paints, I haven’t had any trouble: “the US Department of Transportation defines “flammable liquids’ as those with a flash point of 140 degrees F or below, Artist grade oil colors are based on vegetable oil with a flash point at or above 450 degrees F. THEY ARE NOT HAZARDOUS. If you need to confirm this, please contact TSA at 866-289-9673 or their Hazardous Materials Research Center at 800-467-4922.” “I also include a MSD (Manufacturer Safety Data) sheet from the paint manufacturer….”
Unfortunately, the online article does not include the above paragraph, it was however printed in our 2007 DANIEL SMITH Summer Catalog, so I have included it here directly from the printed page. Click on this link for MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for DANIEL SMITH Original Oils. Of course the even easier point Scott made in the article was that: “I simply pack everything into a box and ship it UPS to the hotel I’ll be staying at avoiding the hassles of checking it on the airplane.” So good advices from Scott Burdick for “Packing with Paint” when “leaving on a Jet Plane” for your Summer Plein Air Painting Adventures!
Please work to resolve the “combustable” and flammable label and coded designation for oil points. I almost had my paints confiscated in Anchorage on my painting trip to Alaska. I am also schedule out for Japan in March.. this has just got to change. We should not give up our love for painting because of terrorist lunatics. Please fix this. I would like to contact the CEO of Daniel Smith to talk about this . Can this be facilitated?
Additionally, I call the TSA number provided. The only thing they would say is “you can not travel with oil paints and they should and will be confiscated.” The agent had no interest in the flash point based Department of Transportation definition of “flammable.”
And finally, when I did contact the Hazardou Material Research center, they only offered condolences and said the TSA can do whatever the want to do..take your paints, take your hair brush, anything.
Hi Timothy,
Sorry to learn of the poor experience that you had with the TSA and traveling with your oil paints. Unfortunately the TSA are the ones in control and they make the rules that we all have to follow.
All we can do is provide the link to our MSDS sheets that Scott Burdick wrote in his article that should be helpful by providing information about the paints along with his info Our MSDS sheets state that our DS oil paints are “NOT EXPLOSIVE” and “NOT COMBUSTIBLE”
“FLASH POINT (METHOD): N/A AUTOIGNITION TEMPERATURE: N/A
EXPLOSION LIMITS IN AIR (% BY VOLUME): NOT EXPLOSIVE
EXTINGUISHING MEDIA: NO SPECIAL MEDIA REQUIRED
FIRE FIGHTING PROCEDURES: NO SPECIAL FIRE FIGHTING PROCEDURES REQUIRED
UNUSUAL FIRE & EXPLOSION HAZARDS: NOT COMBUSTIBLE”
I have recently learned on the news that the TSA does seem to change their rules as a way to thwart potential threats, so calling the TSA, as Scott suggests, for changes and updates would be important. It is disturbing to learn that when you did call, they told you that:” “you can not travel with oil paints and they should and will be confiscated.” in comment #2. Was that for carry-on only or did it also apply to all luggage?
If that is the current position that the TSA has on oil paints, then Scott’s tip in his article (I included it in the last paragraph on the blog post) that the best way to travel with oil paints is that: ““I simply pack everything into a box and ship it UPS to the hotel I’ll be staying at avoiding the hassles of checking it on the airplane.” Shipping your paints looks like the only option that the TSA has left for Artists. That tip may then be the best one when traveling with oil paints at this point on your trip to Japan. That is a shame and a real hardship for artists!
From what you have posted about your experience, Artists need to plan ahead and call the TSA before every trip to see what the current guidelines are and follow those. Thank you for sharing your experience and sorry to learn that the current TSA regulations are so strict.
I have travelled 2x to Europe with plenty of oil paints and even walnut oil in my unlocked checked luggage. On a domestic flight, I carried on small tubes of oil paint in my quarter zip lock bag along with my make-up and no one asked a thing. I think I was just lucky. I am headed back over and I only want to carry on my luggage. Fortunately it is italy and I can purchase what little I need over there.
comment: Since sending artists oil paints ahead of time with UPS, how do they get the paints there?