Hi J,
Maybe ask Dcam (Derek) as he says he glues all his work to illustration board, and is USA based. I would imagine your biggest concern would be acids in the adhesive.
What I can tell you though is that spray adhesive is superior to brush on application, it is much smoother, and can be applied very thin, but that you should coat both mating surfaces, allowing the adhesive to tack off somewhat before bringing them together and that rolling will not remove a wrinkle, but more likely set it. If it is large-ish the best way is a three person job. Two people holding the sheet taught at the corners, and the third in the centre using hands to smooth the sheet as it is being lowered. Beginning in the centre and working out to the sides along the centreline, and then from there, out towards the ends working from side to side until the ends are reached. Otherwise you risk forming an excess that will turn into a wrinkle when flattened.
If it is smallish, very carefully (be pedantic about this) roll the cloth up on to a length of pvc pipe, postal tube, or similar. A larger diameter is easier that a smaller, but within reason in context to the size of the cloth. It is also more likely not to have a bend in it, unlike a smaller, and this is important. It is just like you would do with a sheet of pastry. Do this on a table, so that you can squat down elbows on table to eye your alignment. Leave a couple of inches hanging off the roll for this purpose. When you have the correct alignment, push the roll away from you until it makes contact with the board, then carefully taking up the tension just a little, lay down the roll, stand up, and simply roll out. It is a one go process, if you have to start lifting back up, you’ve lost the game. With this method, unlike the previous, where the cloth was under tension, this time it is not, therefore do not smooth out from the centre to the sides, but instead press straight down, only, otherwise you will accrue an excess of material that will turn into a wrinkle.
Lastly, glue the entire surface. I recall once having glued just the edges + an X in the centre and this sagged under its own weight when hung.
So these are the methods that work best, just be sure of the absence of acids in your adhesive, and get yourself properly set up first. Also ensure any helper understands perfectly what is going to happen, and what is required of them. If necessary doing a dry run is far preferable to tears, recriminations, and shouting. Ha! Ha!
Cheers,
Terry.
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Um, do you need to adhere it to the board completely. My thought was to avoid adhesive altogether and wrap the velvet around the board and staple it to the back. Tho’ I don’t know how thick your foam board is.
