Protective Sprays

I've recently done quite a bit of canvas printing (canson museum canvas printed on a iPF6200) Now my questions,
do you use protective sprays on your canvas prints?
If so which one?
Anything i should look for on the description of the spray?
Do you spray before or after stretching?
Or is it simply more trouble than good?

Thanks

Wim.

Wim,
I've been using Glamour II water based coating from Breathing Color. It is available for a gloss or mat look and can be applied with a roller as well. I've found spraying to be a better option, at least for me. In either case the product is applied before stretching. Their web site is quite extensive and useful. I'm not sure if they have any distribution in Europe, so that could be an issue. www.breathingcolor.com

There are alternatives out there of which one, Premiere Art Printshield, is recommended by Epson. Due to volatile components I was only able to find one vendor willing to ship it and no one near me carried it in stock. As for what to look for with the spr;ay, you should request a Material
Safety Data Sheet. The Premiere stuff recommends wearing a respirator when spraying.

I hope you get several replies to this inquiry as I too am interested in hearing what others use. I would not want to sell without coating the print. Both life expectancy and scuff resistance are enhanced by doing so.
Larry Reitz
Salem, Connecticut, USA

Lexjet Sunset Satin Coating works well for me. It is a water based acrylic that is ready to use without diluting. Always coat before stretching. I use Premier Art sprays on prints, but that stuff smells evil.

I went through several hundred dollars in mistakes before someone finally pointed me in the right direction for this. The product I now use is Clearshield http://www.clearstarcorp.com/clearshield.asp. You can order in in matte, satin, and gloss. They are water based and you can mix the different finishes together to get a custom look. I most often use the satin. The best way to apply it is using a HVLP spray gun (the type they use to paint cars)...i picked one up on Amazon.com for 30 bucks. You can also roll the laminate on but spraying is faster and the finish is wonderful. I found it to be VERY important to sray/roll the canvas before you stretch it...it saves it from scratches and lots of other bad things. I am sure there are other ways to do this but this is the best I have found so far and one a lot of other pros use.

Nate

Also, you can tell the folks at Clearstar that you would like to order samples. It is a nice way to try it out and see which finish you like before buying a large amount. My first sample covered more than ten 24" x 32" canvases.

Thanks guys,
I'm going to order some sample packs and will see how things go.

Wim.