There are so many times that we buy works of art or posters that come rolled up in a tube. For someone who hasn’t worked with rolled artwork before, flattening it can be quite a challenge. There are several simple techniques that can be tried at first.
1. Lay the painting on a flat surface and place heavy books on it.
2. You can also try rolling the poster upside down. But this process should not be followed if it is a canvas. Rolling backwards could damage the paint.
One of the most popular professional techniques that help smooth a rolled canvas or poster is humidification. This refers to the process of carefully introducing moisture, followed by flattening the canvas. This technique is used not only to smooth canvases or posters, but also to safely smooth old and brittle documents. Extreme caution should be used when wetting the canvas.
The technique I’ll be describing here is known as a moistening sandwich, and it helps to moisten and flatten a canvas at the same time.
You will need the following items: 2 acid-free blotting papers larger than the size of the canvas; 2 flat boards made of wood, Plexiglas or glass; 6 chipsets and weights
The following steps are described below for humidification:
Step 1: Clean the surface of the canvas of any dirt. Otherwise, these will settle on the canvas during humidification. You can use a soft brush for this.
Step 2: Place the flat wooden, glass or plexiglass board on a flat surface such as the floor or table. Place the first chipboard on the flat board.
Step 3: Next, take the second chipboard and spray water on a surface. Place this chipboard on the stack with the wet side facing up. Lay the third dry chipboard on top of this.
Stage 4: Place an acid-free blotting paper in this stack. Next, place the canvas on top of it and another blotting paper on top of it.
Step 5: Now place the fourth dry chipboard on the stack. Take the fifth chipboard and spray water on one surface and place it in the pile wet side down. Take the last dry chipboard and place it on top.
Step 6: Lastly, place the last flat board on the stack to complete the sandwich. And place weights that are equally placed on the flat board.
If the canvas stays in the old sandwich for 48 hours, that should help it smooth out.
Keep in mind that very old and brittle artworks are best taken to an expert for smoothing and framing.
