Nearly a million pounds of drying oils are used each year in the United States, mainly in paints, varnishes, lacquers, and printer's ink. The first three oils mentioned are more properly called semidrying oils.
Linseed oil is the most widely used.
Use is recorded as early as A.D. 200 of boiled linseed oil, which dries faster than raw oil. Tung oil is imported from China, and linseed oil mainly from Argentina.