Zest-it Art Supplies Deals — Compare Sale Prices & Find the Best Discount UK

The origin story of Zest-it is one of the better ones in the UK art supplies world. In the 1990s, British artist Jacqui Blackman was running oil painting workshops and developing serious health problems — persistent headaches, sore throats and nausea — from prolonged exposure to turpentine in enclosed studio spaces. Rather than accept this as an occupational inevitability, she started researching whether a safer alternative was possible. The answer was citrus zest — the natural oils extracted from orange peel, which have genuine solvent properties and had been used in industrial degreasers for years but hadn't been applied to artist materials. Jacqui formulated the first Zest-it Oil Paint Dilutant and Brush Cleaner using citrus oil as the base, tested it rigorously on her own work before releasing it, and brought it to market as a genuinely safer alternative to turpentine and white spirit for oil painters. The brand is owned and operated by J. & T. Blackman Ltd and remains a small, independently run UK business with the founding story still visible in every product decision they make.

I've spent sixteen years in the art supplies industry and run Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison and deals platform used by over 36,000 artists and crafters across all our channels. I covered turpentine versus white spirit versus low odour solvents in detail in our <a href="https://discountartsupplies.co.uk/blog/turpentine-vs-white-spirit" target="_blank">turpentine vs white spirit guide</a> and Zest-it is the brand I reccommend most consistently for artists who want to work in oils without the solvent smell and health concerns that come with traditional options. The credentials are genuine — this isn't a rebranding exercise by a large manufacturer, it's a product invented by a working artist who had a specific problem and solved it herself.

The flagship product is the Zest-it Oil Paint Dilutant and Brush Cleaner — a citrus-scented solvent for thinning oil paint and cleaning brushes. The smell is genuinley pleasant rather than merely tolerable, the solvent action is effective enough to thin paint properly and clean brushes thoroughly, and it leaves no residue when it evaporates. Available in 125ml, 250ml, 500ml, 1 litre and 2.5 litre bottles depending on how much you go through — buying larger quantities is meaningfully more economical if you paint regularly in oils. It can be decanted and reused after the paint has settled out, which makes it more economical than single-use solvent solutions.

The Zest-it Citrus Free Solvent is the second major option — a reformulation for artists who want stronger solvent action and a slightly faster drying time without the citrus smell. It has more bite than the original Oil Paint Dilutant, making it better suited to removing dried or partially dried paint from brushes, and it works with linseed oil, damar and mastic resins and wax mediums as well as thinning paint directly. Still significantely safer than turpentine. Available in the same size range as the original.

The Cold Wax Painting Medium range is the most excitting recent development in the Zest-it offer. Cold wax medium — a mixture of beeswax and solvents used with oil paint to create thick, textured, encaustic-like effects without the heat required for traditional hot wax techniques — has become an increasingly popular medium among abstract and mixed media painters, and the Zest-it Cold Wax is one of the best UK options available. The range includes the Cold Wax Medium itself, a dedicated Zest-it Wax Solvent designed specifically to work alongside it, and a selection of powder additives — fine marble dust, sand and limestone dust — for creating specific surface textures within the wax. These additives are a distinctive touch that most cold wax products don't include and they open up a wide range of textural possibilities for painters working in this medium.

The Acrylic Brush Cleaner is a significant product in the range for a different audience entirely. Dried acrylic paint on brushes is one of the most common and frustrating problems for acrylic painters — once acrylic has set it's effectively plastic and standard cleaning methods can't shift it. The Zest-it Acrylic Brush Cleaner is formulated to clean both fresh acrylic paint and revive brushes with dried-on paint that most painters would have written off as ruined. For regular acrylic painters who've lost good brushes to dried paint, this is a genuinley useful product.

The Damar Picture Varnish and Clear Painting Medium complete the oil painting range, alongside newer additions including the Fountain Pen Cleaner and Technical Pen Cleaner — specialist cleaning solutions for fountain pen and technical pen users that draw on the same formulation expertise as the painting solvents. The pen cleaners have found a following in the stationery and drawing community well beyond the oil painting market that Zest-it originally served.

Getting the best Zest-it deals in the UK involves some comparison between retailers because pricing on the larger bottle sizes in particular varies between stockists. Cass Art and Jacksons both carry the core Zest-it range. Amazon is often competative on the standard sizes. Buying direct from zest-it.shop is worth considering for the full range including newer products that may not yet be widely distributed through third-party retailers. Our price comparison below pulls live pricing across all UK stockists so you can see the best current deal on every Zest-it product before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded Zest-it? Zest-it was founded by British artist Jacqui Blackman in the 1990s after she developed health problems from prolonged turpentine exposure during oil painting workshops. The brand is owned by J. & T. Blackman Ltd and remains independently operated.

Is Zest-it safe to use indoors? Yes — Zest-it Oil Paint Dilutant is significantly safer than turpentine and white spirit for indoor use, with a pleasant citrus smell rather than petrochemical fumes. Adequate ventilation is still reccommended, as with any solvent, but the health risk profile is considerably lower than traditional oil painting solvents.

What is the difference between Zest-it Oil Paint Dilutant and Zest-it Citrus Free Solvent? The Oil Paint Dilutant has a pleasant citrus smell and gentle solvent action — ideal for general thinning and brush cleaning during a painting session. The Citrus Free Solvent has stronger action, faster drying and no citrus smell — better for removing dried paint and for artists who prefer a more neutral odour.

Can Zest-it clean dried acrylic paint from brushes? Yes — the Zest-it Acrylic Brush Cleaner is specifically formulated to clean both fresh and dried acrylic paint from brushes, including brushes with significant dried-on paint buildup that other cleaners can't shift.

Where can I buy Zest-it in the UK? Zest-it is available from Cass Art, Jacksons Art, Amazon and directly from zest-it.shop. Use our price comparison below to find the best current price across all UK stockists.