How to pack a canvas

My no-nonsense guide on how to ship a stretched canvas painting; affordably.

1. Use kraft paper to wrap your painting. This will protect the painting and textures itself.

2. Cut out 2 pieces of thick cardboard from literally any box (buy it if you have to). Make sure your pieces are slightly larger than your painting, a few centimetres all around.

3. Tape the painting down in the center of the cardboard piece and then tape the other piece of cardboard down. You now have a painting sandwich.

In this picture I shrink wrapped before the cardboard, but I think it is better to wrap after you place the cardboard down.

4. Using shrink wrap, poly wrap, plastic wrap, (purchase roll from a hardware store or Walmart), wrap the painting, making sure to stretch the wrap as much as possible, all around. I usually wrap vertically and then horizontally.

5. Optional step but highly recommended: wrap one layer all around the edges of the painting. I do this to protect from moisture. Shrink wrap also reduces chances of puncture during shipping.

6. Last step, place your wrapped piece into a box that is hopefully the same size as your painting. I ask all department stores I visit for all sorts of boxes and hopefully they have the size you need. Another option is to buy the box from Uline, Fed-Ex, or some other shipping packaging store; it can be expensive. Third option, get any kind of free box, as long as one surface is large enough to cover one side of your painting. Then cut and fold the box to the exact size you need it to be. I will post a video or blog on how to do this.

*DISCLAIMER: This works best for smaller pieces. For larger artworks I do a little bit more as there is more surface area that could easily get damaged.