BATHROOM FRAMING

[DEEPJOY]

Hi All

Ive had a request to frame one on these horrible plastic canvas . They never give a wide enough edge to wrap around stretcher bars and if they do they rip when stapling. I have decided right or wrong to full frame the pint sndwiching it between a acrylic 2mm glazing and a trated backing board or even plywood painted with. diluted PVA. The back of the frame being wood will also be painted with PVA. The backing board will have the gaps filled with silicon sealer and finished with tape.
The art size is 900mm wide by 600mm high.
What do you think and where will it fail? 2mm or 3mm acrylic?

[JKX]

What will you do with the edges of the canvas that you do have?

[fitz]

Will it be hanging in a bathroom or is it a print of a bathroom? Whenever I get these to frame if the customer wants a stretcher type option I would ask if they were ok with the artwork wrapping around the edges which would give you more ‘canvas’ to work with. If they were happy to select a conventional type of frame moulding I would discuss with them the option to have a mount around the artwork or explain that the ‘canvas’ could be stuck down onto board such as MDF (5 or 6 mm) using PVA depending on whether the artwork was valuable, they needed it to be reversible etc etc. The majority of my customers opt for sticking onto a board. They don’t normally require glass if they choose this option. I don’t think I would proceed without discussion with the customer though.

[DEEPJOY]

Hi

Thanks for the replies.

The customer has no problem with it be reversable .There is not enough of the print to wrap the edges round a board. If you are familiar with the plastictype of printed canvas, is PVA the correct adhesive to bond it to a backing board? Will it hold?
Are we ok with the sandwich solution with th glazing (2mm Acrylic) directly on top of the print sandwiching the print to the backing board?

Im struggling with this one.

[fitz]

The process I utilise with plasticky type canvasses is to cut 6mm MDF to the exact size of the actual artwork of the print. I use a mini roller to cover the MDF with the PVA and let this soak in for 5 minutes or so until it goes tacky. Then I coat it again and apply the “canvas’ using a brayer roller. Once I’m happy that it’s well stuck down and flat I place a similar sized piece of MDF onto this and load heavy weights onto it. I leave this until the PVA sets (usually overnight) The canvas will be completely flat and stuck down and can then be framed. The white edges of the canvas can be trimmed off so that the moulding rebate is over the artwork. You can use glass in which case I would apply a spacer or acrylic or frame without glass which is most often what my customers prefer.

[JKX]

Bathrooms are not that big an issue - OK it may not be the ideal place to hang frames, but how long is the place all hot and steamed up for each day?

In my case it's maybe 40 minutes (10 for me and 30 for my wife!) and after that, the room doesn't have water driippimg from the celing or running down the walls, and any glass misting disappears after the door has been open a few minutes. I have three things in there, mounted and glazed as normal - I don't think I even sealed the glass "sandwich" in either. They're on an outside wall, over a radiator and very close to a window at right angles to them - so far, far from ideal and after at least 12 years, they're fine.

How about bonding two pieces of correx together, with the flutes perpendicular to each other, bonding some mounboard to that and stick the print to that combined mounting/backing board. Light and water reisistant.

2mm acrylic is too flexible at that size, it will distort - 3mm is also pushing it but may work, and I'd use a spacer anyway, or even a mount or slip, to cover the edges that you cannot fold around the back. Acrylic against artwork may be safer than glass condensation-wise but it can still happen and it should also really be abrasion resistant, which is more expensive.

You can seal the glass sandwich with aluminium foil tape and same for the frame back, frame bumpers are important.