Home Forums The Learning Center Studio Tips and Framing Framing Discussions What is the purpose of the common paper backing on a framed oil painting?

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  • #460330
    AnnieA
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        I guess it’s for keeping dust off the back of the canvas, but I’m not sure. One person I asked said the backing is just to make the back look neat, and that it isn’t really necessary.

        If it is necessary, can someone let me know what the paper backing is called – “paper backing” perhaps? And also where I could find more information on what paper to use and hot to attach it. TIA!

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        #674244
        BeLing
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            Keep roaches out.

            #674242
            Steve Collins
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                There’s good & bad reasons for it. In the case of stretched canvas, a dust cover makes it inconvenient to access the corner keys for adjusting tension. However, it does help protect the back from dust, cobwebs, insects and other stuff that comes along.

                Anyway, dust covers are not strictly necessary. They do make the back look finished but have limited protective value, especially paper covers which can easily tear or lift on the edges. Stretched canvas creates a hollow space inside the stretchers, making it inevitable that a hole will get punched in the paper.

                It’s common practice to cover the back of stretched canvas with a protective board (mat board, coroplast, etc), which does more to protect the piece than paper alone. It also eliminates the hollow space.

                As a rule, I cover the back with board and finish with black Tyvek, which is much less likely to tear.

                Last I knew, standard practice in some other countries (England, maybe others) was to not bother with a dust cover.

                #674245
                contumacious
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                    I like the idea of Tyvek, even without a rigid backer it would provide significantly more protection from contact damage to the back of the canvas without adding much weight.

                    Thinking back, I can’t recall having ever seen a framed oil painting with a paper backing on it, nor have I ever put one on a framed oil of mine, though I do put paper backings on framed art that is under glass to help keep out bugs and dust.

                    #674243
                    Mach5
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                        Tyvek is a good backing as is a rigid matboard or coroplast when sealed with ATG tape or other double sided tape (use acid free tapes that don’t have a film between two layers of adhesive). If any of these barriers are used a vent hole should be cut and covered with a cotton cloth to allow the front and back of the canvas to simultaneously adjust to changes in the environment. Keeping dust, insects and debris away from the canvas and especially protecting the area where the canvas touches the stretcher bars will prevent abrasion in those areas.

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