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Mystery fabric — Can I paint on it with OILS?

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Lily Wei

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Hello, I have recently received some fabrics second-hand and would like to know whether it is suitable for oil painting : ). The fabric is sturdy, has a slight sheen to it and is of a soft warm color.  I have attached a few images below. If I apply a few layers of gesso and one layer of acrylic underpainting, would it be safe to paint with oils/roll up when i'm done? For reference, I paint with relatively thin application, using both alla-prima and glazing.  Thank you.
big hat

Collette Hughes

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Years ago I worked in the lab of a finishers, dyers and weaving firm testing fabrics. In my opinion I wouldn't use it for fine art. If you are determined. You can put a naked flame near the frayed edge. If it melts, ie. goes into little balls on the thread ends, it is synthetic and not suitable. If it's a natural fibre it will singe. Fabric manufacturers use dozens of different finishes, some of them are similar to plastic in nature. As you won't know if it has a finish applied that will affect adherence you will need to strip wash it first in caustic and then wash again several times to remove traces of caustic. Trouble is the caustic will weaken the fabric so you need to check the tear strength before using. Not worth the time or effort.  
PB3 - Copy

Cordelia Campbell

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I was given some fabric that looks similar and was meant to be artists' canvas.  I agree that it's not worth the time and effort if unsure on fabric content. I use Artisan water mixable oils applied fairly thickly and will stretch the fabric and use it just for practise/exploring ideas.

Alan Bickley

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It takes quite an effort to make your own stretched canvases, I stopped doing this many years ago. So, if you’re hell bent on making your own, buy some decent quality canvas and take the guess work out of the equation… it’s not worth taking a chance on unknown fabrics! Frankly I’m not even sure if they work out any cheaper than buying them ready assembled from say Jackson’s Art etc.

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by Alan Bickley

With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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I agree with Collette on the uncertainty here - you CAN use this material, stretch it on bars, apply priming, perhaps a coat of shellac first... or you could cut it to size and glue it to a board, then size and prime it.  And either way, you might be lucky.  But there's no way of really being sure if you don't know what it is.  It LOOKS like cotton, but ... is it?  If you decide to use it (and if I were you, I'd stick it to a board) you'd need to get rid of that edging - or at least ensure it goes over the back of the board/stretchers; is it elasticated?  Either way, you don't want to paint on it.   What if it's polyester or rayon - well; there are polyester canvases in development, their only real problem being the uninteresting nature of the weave; it is possible to paint on primed synthetics - so: what would I do?  I'd make use of it, on balance; if it works, then it was worth the experiment; and if it doesn't, then you've learned something. We can't know what might happen 100 years down the line, but then you could say that of a lot of modern surfaces: I suspect that if it's going to give you trouble, this cloth will do so at an early stage.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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My post crossed with Alan's - agree with him about not trying to stretch it: if you're going to use it, stick it to a rigid board, eg hardboard of suitable thickness.  I don't stretch canvases either!  I don't even recommend stretched canvas as a surface: it's so easy to damage, and so inclined to sag - with a fairly heavy cloth, as this one seems to be, I think it would be a lot of effort for a highly uncertain result.