Laminating Canvas.

[smikkelmit22]

Hi,

Is there any way to laminate inkjet canvas with a film material and get a decent result?

I know canvas can be varnished, but in all honesty, the process is a bit of a pain.

There are machines available for liquid lamination (aquaseal), but i have found that the prices can be easily 10.000$ or even higher.

I'm curious if there is a easier method, like using a hot/cold press or something.

[dgberg]

We spray most canvas here but still use our laminator fairly often.
Takes a hot roll machine. We use Seal’s Print Guard Luster which has a beautiful semi gloss luster.
Protects way better then any spray ever will.
No abraded corners, no cracking, beautiful finish.
More costly to laminate but worth it sometimes in our business.
I purchase the wider rolls and cut them down to my most used sizes. 18”, 25 1/2 and 38”.
That way I cut my waste to a minimum when laminating.
Takes the investment in equipment but if you are selling any quantity it should be worth it.
Drytac has a selection of laminates with canvas texture that can be applied with the vacuum hot press, another option.

Just a side note. If you are having issues spraying varnish you may just need to fine tune things a little.
Good spray equipment, proper lighting and ventilation and you almost have it licked. The spraying is the easy part.  Rolling can be a pain for sure.
Then again I have over 30 years experience spraying in my former custom cabinetry business.  No clean up is the biggest booster for me. Binks pressure pots allow the product to be left without emptying for a month at a time. All we do is open weekly add more and stir.

[smikkelmit22]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response.

Yes, i was reffering to liquid lamination by roller, with hand.

It's a bit of a messy process. From time to time one fails. Or noticeable roller stripes. And the drying process. If you do multiple in one run, i need a lot of space.

I lookup a video of the "Seal Print Guard Luster", it actually looked pretty good. Do i understand correctly you need a hot laminator?

Unfortunately, the product isn't for sale in Europa. Shipping from the Usa to here is expensive because of the size of the rolls.

This is maybe a stupid question, but what happens if you use 'regular' film with a hot press laminator on canvas?

[dgberg]

Different products are heat activated at different temperatures. The print guard product requires a true hot laminator not the low heat assist roller model.
cold laminate films do not require heat so it will not work. You can use the cold laminate films on a hot laminator with the heater turned off. ‘Seals Print Shield Products”
The Drytac products with a large vacuum dry mount press work and you might be able to find a used one for less then a hot roll laminator.
These are big expensive machines so space and budget are both required. New vacuum hot press is $8,000