Packing An Original Painting

Congratulations.

Someone should be along soon to help you

first wrap your painting with bubble warp then put it in a sturdy cardboard box, that should do it.

Safest way to pack for shipping is to build a wooden crate.

Andre, she said, it is a small acrylic painting on canvas board,

Still , a small wooden crate/box

Like a gift box .

Be very careful about what you put next to the paint - plastic - even bubble wrap can adhere - if it's totally, completely dry - I might try a sheet of parchment cooking paper between the painting and bubble. - then a sturdy cardboard box.

I recently shipped a 22 x 28 stretched & wrapped canvas oil painting to Manhattan ( I'm in Texas ). I first wrapped the painting with brown craft paper and taped it with masking tape. Then I wrapped a couple of layers of bubble wrap over that, with some additional on the corners. Then I added a layer of foam board on each side. I couldn't find a box of the right dimensions so I took two boxes and cut them and folded sides. I taped all seams well with shipping tape. It arrived in New York undamaged.

By the way....you can save money on the brown kraft paper ( which is fairly thick and doesn't harm the painting or stick to it ) ...by buying a roll at a home improvement store. I bought an inexpensive roll of what they call "contractors paper" at Lowes that is 35 in. x 140 ft.! So it's a lot of paper for the money and is the same kind of brown kraft paper you would buy at an art supply store, office supply store or shipping store......the only difference really is you get far more paper for less cost!

Hobby Lobby and Michaels will give you free canvas boxes from the back room if you ask

Thanks for the tip, John! I'll ask if they have any boxes next time I'm in the next town over where HL and Michaels is.

That is an important tip about not putting plastic next to the paint surface. Especially during hot weather if the package is in the heat or sun during shipping the acrylic can soften a bit if is not very old. I have used Freezer Paper, available in grocery stores, for smaller artworks. Put the slick side next to the paint surface before wrapping with bubble wrap. Making a sandwich of foam core board is a great additional protection. Thanks for the tip about contractors paper at home improvement stores, I will also check that out. !!

Wrap in brown craft paper first. Then bubble wrap. I ship in used frame boxes.

Thank you all for your suggestions. :) Thanks also for warning me about putting plastic/ bubble wrap against the paint surface. Intuitively, I sort of knew that, but it was good to hear it here. I also called an arts and craft store in town and talked to someone in the framing department who told me "Just put it in bubble wrap." She said that's all they use - nothing between the painting and the wrap. Really? I'd rather be safe than sorry!

..................................and this is our sticky for today. Hope this helps some traditional artists





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And never forget to put on some corner triangles or fashion your own. Protect those corners.

Here in Florida where it's humid we learned years ago that any kind of craft paper can stick! I've shipped thousands of originals and prints in the last 12 years. For what you are describing, here is what I would do. I would get two sheets of flat corrugated cardboard to put the canvas paper between. The cardboard would be at least 4 inches bigger than the painting all the way around. I would put some painters tape on the very edges in a few spots so that it doesn't slide around in the cardboard. I would lay a piece of wax paper (wax side against the painting) and sandwich in between the two pieces of cardboard. I would put tape on all four sides of the cardboard sandwich. I write instructions in sharpie on the cardboard for my buyer (open with care...do not use a knife...use a small box opener or razor blade...there is a 4 inch margin around your painting). Then I would bubble wrap the sandwich with 2 or 3 layers of the fat bubble wrap and put in a corrugated cardboard box. You can use other void fill too as long as it really fills it and keeps potential punctures away. That's what I would do.

Excellent Sharon!

If you are still undecided and still have questions, take your next average sized painting to one to the UPS pack and ship place and watch every step they go through. Pay the price one time for the education you can use for the rest of your life. Money well spent.

I have shipped thousands of pieces including framed and glassed art around the world over the years.

I never used a wood box. Just way to expensive because of the weight, materials and time.

Couple of hits:

Use bubble wrap. Lots of bubble wrap. UPS in a lot of cases, will NOT honor their guarantee or pay the insurance unless they see at least two layers of bubble wrap AND a reinforced box. That is why I suggest you take one to a UPS store and pay close attention.

Unline.com is a good source for boxes and all other shipping materials.

Over the years I have learned that over packing is better then under. The hassle of dealing with a damaged package even when it is insured is not worth the little extra you pay for the materials.

For the record, I have a 99.95% delivery rate. That includes all packages shipped, including glass and canvas, and includes lost as well as damaged. And that success rate is nearly exactly the same with every carrier I use including US Postal Service, UPS, FedEx and a couple of regional carriers.

Generally speaking,

* protect the surface of the painting (wrap in glassine, I think it's called, ... like wax paper, ... the stuff that postage stamps used to be sandwiched between)
* waterproof (plastic bag)
* pad corners (styrofoam)
* pad all sides (NOW maybe the bubble wrap, or any other sort of soft filler)
* seal securely (wrap in cardboard, or put in small cardboard box ... to fit inside a larger cardboard box to fit snugly)
* ship it with insurance on it (estimate the value for insurance, when you ship it - not that much for insurance, really)
* hope it gets there
* determine if buyer really likes it
* hope buyer does not want to send it back
* after a month, go have a beer to celebrate a successful sale.

Oh, I forgot, include a note that informs the buyer to allow the package to reach ambient temperature of the environment in which it will be displayed, if there is a big difference in temperatures (e.g., freezing outside temps transitioning to toasty inside temps), to retard condensation (if I remember correctly).

I actually had a handful of horrible experiences with UPS. I ship a lot of HUGE boxes...Paintings that are 40x60 or bigger and UPS just liked to spear them with forklifts! Our packaging always exceeded their minimum requirement and they always paid my claims. But yes...a hassle! And my collectors were always devastated because UPS delivers the box even if it is ripped to shreds and the painting is chewed up and hanging out. One man called me weeping! So I switched to Fedex about 6 years ago and never looked back. They seem better at knowing where their dang forklifts are!

So, be wary of UPS, I guess, on the bigger stuff. ... The smaller stuff might not suffer forklift skewering syndrome (FSS).

Good to know Sharon on UPS. I recently sold an original 24 x 36 and it had to go across the border so I wanted to make sure it got there ok too. What I put next to my painting was glassine paper first, then pallet roll around that, then bubble wrap (bubbles away from painting). Made an inner box for it then put the inner box in a larger box with plenty of larger air pillows till it was snug. Then once that was wrapped, I decorated the box like a Christmas tree with a lot of "fragile" and "do not stack" stickers all over it, along with "fragile" lettering with my sharpie.

It got to Canada just fine and the buyer was most happy.

Read this link as it may help you.

http://reddotblog.com/how-to-ship-paintings-a-step-by-step-guide-for-artists-and-galleries/

Patricia L. has got it down.

She made me realize that my earlier post said "mylar", when I meant to type "glassine" ... I got my materials mixed up -- GLASSINE ... it's like wax paper. You might even be able to substitute wax paper.