Extra Wide Canvas is a flame-retardant seamless canvas, making it a well-suited fabric for stage scenery. Using the Canvas Tightening Keys If the Tightening Keys are not already fixed in position gently slot them into all four corners of the art canvas. A true professional quality stretched canvas will be tight and ready to paint on right out of the shrink wrap, no prep necessary, but you will be paying more for this quality. You can use either the spray bottle or the dishcloth instead. When all else fails (or if you just want to cut straight to the most durable and permanent solution) you can always remove the canvas from the frame and re-stretch it. Manufacturers of canvases (even the high quality ones) have recognized that canvas sagging during transit is a real and continuing concern so they often provide a way to correct this by including “canvas keys”. Aug 9, 2014 - How to tighten stretched canvas a quick easy way. Thank you for any help you can provide. Shrinking a new canvas using water will restore the canvas' tension long enough to get down the first layers of fast drying paint (acrylic, ideally). I would start by spray misting the back of the canvas with water and allow to dry (2hrs), don't soak it! If this doesn't tighten it up then use the wedges, by tapping one in each corner one at a time and go around til you get all eight in, they don't need to be all the way in just tight! Do this to all four corners of the canvas in turn. But I didn’t want to take the staples out and restretch because I had the grain nice and even and stretching just the middles would ruin that. Use a hair dryer to dry the canvas where you just sprayed the water. But there is an easy fix, and the same tools and method will also tighten a canvas that is loose from being pressed on or just old. What if the canvas material was pre printed and is plastic like? Using a flat hand, gently rub the moisture beads into the weave. thanks. Is there any other tricks that work better for larger canvases? This patented liquid canvas re-tensioning technology solves most all of the typical canvas tension problems. I have been painting for decades on panel and am just now returning to canvas, so I’m a bit rusty on canvas fine points. When applied to the back of a canvas, it causes the canvas fibers to shrink slightly, then penetrates them with a binding agent to retain the tension after it dries. Do you think I should spray and tighten prior to this ? Take your canvas painting and wet the backside of the canvas, Don't drench it, but dampen it lightly. If you soak a painted canvas mold could potentially develop between your primer and paint layers, risking discolouration at best and canvas rot and delamination at worst. Feb 19, 2018 - This is acrylic on canvas that went slack on washing off the silicone. Tight'N'Up Liquid Canvas Retensioner is the perfect solution to most canvas tension problems. Is this something that can be done easily? These bits of wood are canvas tightening keys or wedges, used if the canvas begins to sag a little on the stretcher. If the canvas is only a little slack, I … Can the hair dryer be used when the painting is acrylic? I’ve noticed that applying a fresh coat of gesso to the front of the canvas will tighten it somewhat. Restore canvas tension!Tight'n'Up™ Liquid Canvas Retensioner solves most of the problems associated with loose canvas, ripples, wrinkles, bubbles, sags, etc. This should tighten the cotton canvas as it dries. The slight arthritis in my hands just won’t let me get it tight enough and as I’m painting on the canvas they always seem to start sagging. Let us know if you come up with any more solutions to the age old problem. If the canvas has not been primed yet, apply water to the front of the canvas with a brush. Now sometimes store-bought canvases come with these little keys, either made of wood or plastic. Make sure that the long edge of the wedge lies along the bar of the frame.