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Sealing MDF
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Message
Posted
Hi all.
A sort of strange question. What do I not know or perhaps should know about the issue of sealing MDF against moisture intake in the context of using it as a painting support ? By all accounts and traditionally, MDF would always be susceptible to moisture intake from humidity etc and yet so many artists who use MDF boards do not seal. Is sealing an overkill, is there is no need when the boards will primarily be indoors? I don’t want to go to the trouble either time or financially wise of sealing boards if there is no need and clearly with the number of artists including the big sellers not seeing a need to, it might well be. I know that some will put gesso on the ‘back’ to prevent warping on the smaller sizes but I’m more interested in what I’m missing with the sealing aspect. Thank you
Posted
Larry - I'm not an expert but I have used MDF for many years in dollshouses ,toys and furniture and for paintings . If your work is going to be remaining indoors I would be inclined to seal your painting surface with , say , gesso in the normal way , but sealing the back would be , for me , not important but as you say , a coat of almost anything on the back as a " balancer " would do no harm . There is a type of MDF in 6mm and above which has a green layer in the middle for damp protection .
Stephen Weight
Posted
Like tracerman I have used MDF for many years, and plywood and hardboard, and have only used acrylic primers and gesso with no detrimental effects. At least, no-one has brought a painting back complaining of damp problems. I usually apply at least one coat of primer to the back of the board for 'balance' but I'm not sure it is strictly necessary.
Posted
Thank you tracerman,Peter and Alan.As Alan touched on,I too am trying to keep it simple and have no need to torture myself any further than I am already by either adding work on to myself or on the other hand worrying about me using dodgy stuff....not in any way saying that this issue is dodgy.When painting in watercolours, I used the best of paper and pigment and stayed away from fugitive pigments even though initially when used they can look striking because firstly I didn't want to sell a "dog" and have it come back to bite me and secondly I just felt it the right way to do it.The truth is that just as I had to research the watercolours I have to research oil painting because I know little or nothing about the technical side of things.I can see how so many artists either just gesso to the front and leave it at that or possibly or maybe put one coat on the back hut am puzzled by the insistence in some quarters that MDF has to be sealed against moisture when so many are not with no unfortunate consequences..Even Golden Acrylics are adamant for example that gesso is not a barrier against moisture ingress and on your own heads be it type of thing.They and others for example argue that discolouration seeping from the board can appear when using acrylics and will not be kept out by gesso.Like a true beginner I just want to belong, be with the gang, get painting and do what everyone else does, head off painting outdoors with gesso'd panels.If it's good enough for every other artist in the UK then regardless of the technicalities, which might well be overkill and a large amount of covering one's butts ,then I will have to accept it as good enough for me.Just being ultra cautious I suppose.
Posted
Well - there's a difference in my case between what I actually do, and what I would advise others to do. Not that I use MDF in its raw straight-out-of-the-hardware-store state, though I do use prepared panels.
In theory - I think acrylic gesso is probably enough, on a prepared (by the maker) panel. But there's no harm, and may be some good, in applying an acrylic sealant first - Golden acrylics sell several products for this purpose, one called an 'isolation coat' can be applied over a painting prior to varnishing, and presumably as a sealant beforehand; although any acrylic medium should work just as well. I would seal the edges of the boards - the most obvious point of damp ingress; but don't see much point in coating the back. However, if I sell anything it will be framed, with a board behind the picture, partly to secure it and partly to minimize damage (physical knocks, damp, mould, dirt). To minimize fluff, spiders, insects, dirt, I'll tape over the gap between board and frame with archival tape.
For pictures that I don't intend to sell, I'm much less fussy/careful. I'll pop them in a frame if I can, but will usually do little or anything else with them - I haven't had any issues yet, other than a family of spiders setting up home in an old canvas - didn't have the heart to evict them - but conservators would probably shudder. On the other hand, if I felt these pictures were worth conserving, I'd probably have taken more trouble....
Posted
I'm told a quick wipe with methylated spirits or Iso alcohol is good as a de-greasing agent; and I have used meths (um - not as an aperitif). Otherwise, a quick wipe with a cloth should be enough. The advice generally is to avoid priming products from the DIY store - doesn't mean they won't work, but they're not made for the job. My trusted primer is Daler Rowney's Cryla.
Posted
A quick response on this - newspaper sticks to everything even remotely moist: I knew someone who wrapped newspaper around his oil paintings, to which he'd applied retouching varnish (which of course never quite dries - it eventually evaporates). He had newspaper adhering to all of them, which he had a hell of a job to remove. So careful with it - don't let it come into direct contact with any painting.
You can correct bowing to some extent at least by laying the panel on the floor and putting heavy books (or heavy anything) on top. That's the snag with MDF and hardboard in the thinner sizes.
Posted
Katy - just to repeat myself , when I had a joinery business in a previous life (One of several ) I used lots of MDF but it was mostly 6mm and 15mm so I cant comment about the really thin stuff i.e. 3mm but its a very versatile material . I have never heard of fumes being an issue except when you are actually cutting it and you should wear a mask .
Stephen Weight(Tracerman)
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