Protecting Your Favorite Pieces of Art 

If you are fortunate enough to own a piece of artwork on canvas, it is well worth it to do everything you can to protect it and keep it in excellent condition. Plenty of factors can impact the condition of the artwork that you display in your home, including temperature, dust, dirt, and natural degradation as time passes. To keep your precious art in great condition, one of the best steps you can take is getting your canvases laminated.

So, what is canvas lamination? We’re about to take a dive into this incredible painting-preserving technique. In this post, we will give you all of the information you need on canvas lamination so that you can do everything you can to keep your canvas paintings looking great for years to come.

What Is a Canvas? 

Many gorgeous paintings are created using canvases as opposed to flat sheets of paper. A canvas is one of the most common settings used to create artwork in various mediums, including acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings. When artwork is painted on canvas, it does not require framing for display. Because a canvas has a distinctly appealing look when it is displayed on your wall at home, it effectively acts as its own frame. 

By eliminating the need for framing, canvases have long maintained popularity among art lovers. Many art fans like to display canvas artwork in their homes, favoring this type of art over framed works due to its distinct look and feel. 

So, what is a canvas? The canvases used for creating artwork are typically made from one of two fabrics – cotton or linen. The fabric of a canvas is typically stretched over a wooden frame and glued or stapled down to stay secured in place. 

Cotton and linen are both favored by artists for different reasons. Cotton canvases are sometimes not as durable as their linen counterparts, but cotton is often more affordable than linen and can be used to create an excellent surface for painting. Linen canvases, on the other hand, are typically more expensive than cotton canvases but are known for their durability. 

Whether your painting has been done on a cotton or linen canvas, it can definitely benefit from canvas lamination. Lamination can help to preserve a painting over time, protecting it from the wear and tear that it might pick up over the years.

What Is Canvas Lamination? 

Laminating involves adding an additional layer of material around a surface, including a painting. When a surface such as a canvas or sheet of paper is laminated, it is typically coated in a thin layer of plastic. This plastic layer protects the material from wear, water damage, and more.

A canvas can be laminated using a liquid coating that dries to create a solid coat of plastic over your painting. Lamination will not affect the appearance of a canvas, so you don’t need to worry about your paintings having an unnatural sheen to them after they are laminated. 

What Are the Benefits of Lamination? 

A laminated canvas is protected from several key factors that can make a painting look older over time. One factor that can have a negative effect on the appearance of a canvas is the sun’s UV rays. Sunlight can cause discoloration in a canvas painting as time passes, especially since canvases are typically unprotected by glass. 

While many framed paintings have a protective layer of UV-resistant glass around them, canvases usually hang on their own without any protection from the sun. A canvas can be naturally protected from sunlight by being displayed in an area that does not have significant exposure to the sun. However, if you want to hang your canvas in a specific spot, the amount of sunlight present there should not have to deter you. Getting your canvases laminated can keep them protected from sun damage. That way, you can feel good about hanging your canvases anywhere in your home!

Lamination can also protect canvases from damage caused by water and moisture. If your house is ever affected by water damage, unlaminated paintings can quickly be ruined beyond repair. Exposure to water can cause significant damage to an unlaminated canvas, but a laminated one has a layer of protection around it that can act as a buffer against water and moisture.

Another additional perk of lamination is that it is easy to clean. While cleaning an unlaminated canvas puts you at risk of potentially damaging your painting, the laminated layer on a canvas can be cleaned easily without threatening to harm the painting underneath. All you need to do to clean your laminated canvas is gently wipe it down with a damp cloth. A microfiber towel is perfect for the job – these cloths are gentle enough to not cause any scratching, but they can easily remove dust and dirt from the lamination on your canvas. 

Do You Need to Laminate Your Canvases? 

Canvas lamination gives your paintings a reliable protective buffer to prevent sun damage, water damage, and other factors that can leave you with a ruined piece of art. But is it necessary to laminate your paintings?

There are plenty of pros to laminating your canvases and just a few cons. One of the major perks of lamination is the peace of mind it can give you. Knowing that your paintings are protected, you will not have to worry about them being ruined by unfortunate circumstances. Accidents happen, and you don’t want to be anxious, wondering what might happen to your precious paintings!

In addition, protecting your paintings with canvas lamination can make your paintings last longer. If you have artwork from Paint Your Life hanging in your home, you can count on it becoming a precious family heirloom over time! A personalized piece of art on canvas is something you will want to pass onto future generations in your family, and laminating your custom artwork ensures that it will endure for decades to come.

Laminating your canvas paintings can also help you preserve their resale value. If you own valuable pieces of artwork, their value can diminish if they are damaged in any way. Lamination keeps a valuable canvas looking great, ready to sell if you choose to at some point in the future. 

The only potential con to canvas lamination is that the process can be difficult to do on your own. Laminating canvases yourself means getting a roller, liquid laminate, and a few other key tools and setting aside a significant chunk of time to get the job done. In addition, lamination is often a job best left in the hands of a professional. 

Canvas lamination is a very worthwhile investment, but you may want to weigh the pros and cons for you personally before you go for it. It is ultimately up to you to determine whether you want to have your canvases laminated.

Custom Artwork From Paint Your Life 

When you are looking for incredible artwork to give your home a unique and personal touch, there is nothing better than a piece of custom artwork from Paint Your Life!

At Paint Your Life, our artists specialize in turning your favorite photos into masterful paintings or drawings. Our skilled team of artists is capable of creating incredible painted replicas of your precious memories on canvas. These meaningful pieces of art make the perfect decor for your home. Not only do you get the unique and beautiful look of canvas artwork, but you also get something with deep personal and sentimental significance.

When you get canvases from Paint Your Life, you can preserve these incredible pieces of art by getting them laminated. However, our canvases are extremely durable and made from high-quality materials. While the durability of a canvas does not cancel out the benefits of getting it laminated, a high-quality canvas like the ones used by Paint Your Life is made to withstand the wear and tear it may pick up over time.

Once you get your unique artwork from Paint Your Life, you can decide whether you want to get your canvas laminated. Our artists can also complete your artwork in a different medium, including different types of framed paintings and drawings. There’s something for everyone – even if you aren’t a fan of canvas, you can find another beautiful format for your personalized artwork.

Getting custom art from Paint Your Life is amazingly simple and incredibly rewarding. You’ll end up with a beautiful, meaningful masterpiece that you can treasure for years to come, even eventually passing it down to future generations. 

We encourage you to take great care of all art that you own, especially the artwork that means the most to you, and pieces of art from Paint Your Life are no exception! If you want to preserve the quality of canvas paintings, lamination can be a huge help. But a major perk of getting canvas artwork from Paint Your Life is it is already made on a highly durable, high-quality canvas, designed to last long and stay looking great.

Sources:

https://smartartmaterials.com/what-is-canvas-made-from/

https://ilevel.biz/rules-for-hanging-art-in-sunlight/

https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/keeping-stories-family-heirlooms-alive/