It is so infuriating when you unwrap a fresh new canvas and find it has been dented in transit! But thankfully it is so simple to fix this and make your canvas perfect again. I made an Instagram reel on how to do this recently, but here is a little more detail than can be captured in a 30 second video.
I am that annoying person who will go through every single canvas in the shop to find the one with the neatest corners, the straightest edges and of course the tightest canvas. It takes me an absolute age to make a decision.
So you can appreciate my fury when I get it home and discover it has got dented in the car, or by my fingers as I have carried it. Or by aliens because sometimes I am convinced that is the only way it could have possibly become damaged en route as there is literally no other reason or explanation for it.
But like I said, it is very easy to make these dents disappear. All you need are 3 things:
Hot tap water (note my use of a useful jar again!).
A brush - the larger the better, especially if it's a big canvas.
A flat, hard surface.
Unwrap the canvas and place it face down on your chosen flat surface. It will need to stay there until dry so make sure it isn't in an inconvenient position for you. Nothing worse that tripping on a canvas left on the floor and stubbing a toe.
Get your brush really, really wet and apply the hot water all over the back of the canvas, not just in the dented area. You want the entire canvas to dry evenly.
Don't be frugal with the water. The canvas should be soaked. Again, make sure you apply the same amount of water to the entire canvas - don't leave some areas drier than others.
Leave the canvas to dry, face down on the flat surface.
Once dry then dents will be gone as if by magic!
Then you can carry on and prepare your canvas for painting in your preferred way.
Super Easy. And free.
HAPPY PAINTING!