Fire retardants and modern marouflage

Molly Lambert <lambert [at] there__net> writes

>Sunbrella-brand synthetic canvas was considered as a replacement for
>the salts-treated cotton canvas but would seem to be too
>adhesion-resistant ("too slick to stick," as one person put it).
>Sunbrella-brand canvas is a Class A "self-extinguishing" material
>with a fluorocarbon coating--the more one looks into it the more it
>seems like a Teflon-type fabric.

I have used Sunbrella fabric as a painting support for several years
for my own painting.  According to the company, Glen Raven Mills of
Glen Raven, NC 336-227-6211, the water resistant coating was a
Teflon for several years but has now been changed.  The present
coating can be removed with hot soapy water and a stiff scrub brush
and rinsed with clear water.  I have had no problems in using either
an acrylic gesso ground or an alkyd/oil ground.  Alkyd ground can be
used directly on the Sunbrella without a isolating size since the
alkyd will not rot the synthetic canvas.  The fuzzy texture of the
fabric aids the mechanical bond between the ground and fabric.  The
technical person at Glen Raven Mills said they can supply the fabric
without the coating if the quantity is large enough.

Ross Merrill
Chief of Conservation
National Gallery of Art
Washington

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:82
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 22, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-82-006
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