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Canvas is cotton stretched over wood. Both respond to moisture, which makes the monsoon the season that decides how a print looks for the rest of its life. None of this is difficult — it is four habits.
1. Keep it off an outside wall that gets wet
This is the big one. An external wall that takes driving rain will hold damp for weeks, and anything hung flat against it sits in that moisture. If you see patches, salt bloom or peeling paint on a wall, do not hang a canvas there — fix the wall first.
If you have no choice, leave an air gap. Two small cork or felt pads stuck to the bottom back corners of the stretcher bars push the canvas a few millimetres off the wall and let air move behind it. It is a cheap fix and it works.
2. Expect it to go slightly slack, and leave it alone
Canvas absorbs moisture from the air and relaxes. A print that was drum-tight in April can develop a very slight ripple in July. In almost every case it tightens again on its own once the humidity drops.
Do not try to fix it during the monsoon by hammering the corner keys — the small wooden wedges at the inside corners of the stretcher. If you tighten a slack canvas in wet weather, it will be over-stretched when it dries out. If a ripple is still there in winter, then tap the keys in, gently, a couple of millimetres at a time.
3. Dust dry, not wet
Use a dry, soft, lint-free cloth and wipe gently along the weave, not against it. A microfibre cloth or a clean cotton one both work.
For anything more stubborn, very slightly dampen the cloth with plain water, wring it until it feels barely cool, and go lightly. Then let it air dry.
What not to use: glass cleaner, surface spray, detergent, alcohol, or anything abrasive. Canvas has no protective glass layer, so whatever you put on it goes onto the print.
4. Watch the ceiling fan and the AC
A canvas directly under a fast fan collects dust faster, and one directly in the path of an air conditioner sits in a repeated cycle of cold dry air and warm humid air. Neither is fatal, but both age a print faster than a still wall would.
If it gets genuinely wet
Take it off the wall. Lay it face up, flat, somewhere with moving air but no direct sun or heat. Do not use a hairdryer and do not stand it near a heater — fast, uneven drying is what causes permanent warping. Let it take a day or two.
The rest of the year
Out of monsoon, canvas is genuinely low maintenance. Keep it out of direct sunlight, dust it every few weeks, and it will hold up for years. Sunlight, not humidity, is what fades a pigment print over the long run — the monsoon is a short problem, and a sunny wall is a permanent one.
