U.V. Spray?

[Hobbes03]

A local water color artist who is a client of mine, inquired today about a U.V. filtering spray that she recently read about in one of her artist trade magazines. She asked me if I was familiar with this product (no brand name given). I vaguely remember some discussion about this here. I searched and found a thread from October of 2002 where it was briefly mentioned, but not in any detail.

Is anyone familiar with it, and if so, can you talk about any pro's and con's that I can pass along to this artist? Personally, I am very skeptical of it's merits, but can't offer an informed opinion about it. Of course her angle is that it would be much cheaper for her to be able to spray her work and be able to get away with using regular glass.

Can anyone provide input?

Thank you!


-Mike.

 

[Lance E]

Krylon have a Gloss UV spray, not very nice to use but effective none the less. I would not use this spray on a watercolour, just the wrong look entirely.

 

[Jim Miller]

You might find it in the archives, if you can figure out the right key words.

As I recall from checking on this a few years back, several spray paint makers offer UV-protectant sprays.

They're generally used on photos, and provide about 20% UV filtering...I think -- could be mistaken on that.

In any case, such sprays would:

(A) Change the surface appearance of the watercolor, and

(B) Provide far less protection than UV-filtering glass.

 

[Gerard]

I did a search on google for ultraviolet sprays and there are several companies that make them for the giclee market. Some for all waterbased paints. One made a claim to be 99% UV filtering although it made paintings somewhat whiter. What a deal!!

 

[preservator]

As Jim mentioned, UV glazing will always give more
protection than a thin layer of sprayed material and using the UV glazing does not require making
any permanent changes in the work of art.

Hugh

 

[Hobbes03]

Thanks for all your helpful responses.

-Mike.

 

[Rogatory]

I understand there are two types of u.v. coatings, one that reflects u.v. and one that absorbs u.v.
Again, just what I understand, the one that absorbs the u.v. turns yellow over a period of time. (Or is it just the plastic that turns?)
Is the u.v. spray a reflectant or an absorbent? If the spray absorbs u.v. then would the art color shift?
Is this a stupid question?

-David-

 

[Jerry Ervin]

No questions are stupid. I think it is a great question. But I have already heard enough to suggest to someone to NOT use the sprays.

 

[Ron Eggers]

I believe the safest assumption is that ANY spray will turn yellow over time - which is why I never spray anything that doesn't belong to me and I can't easily replace.

I remember when many framers routinely sprayed needelwork with ScotchGuard.

 

[artist]

If this artist is an artist with any training at all they should be using light fast paints. Not really any need to spray the painting if they are used.Some of the artists like to use UV glass if they can afford it. I think tag mats are a more important issue.