Timeless Archival Print Varnish - 1 Quart, Satin Finish, Premium Canvas Coating, Water Based UV Protection, 100+ Years Certified Archival

I have learned that ink jet-printed canvases absolutely must be protected with a varnish layer if one expects them to last, especially through the rigors of displaying at art fairs or transporting to and from my gallery. Further, just handling the printed canvas when stretching causes smuging, especially with dark or black ink areas. Additionally, a coating of varnish makes the print "pop" with contrast, vibrancy, and sheen.So, I tried of the "leading brands" of varnish on my fine art photographic ink jet cavas wraps (printed with OEM pigment inks on my Canon Pro-4100). Though sometimes usable, these two brands of varnish did not spray well. I would end up getting runs quite easily or these strange little raised white bumps would appear in places on the surface while curing/drying. Picking the tiny bumps off with my fingernail would then leave a small dot with no bump, but also, now no ink! Aghhhh! So, I swithched to using a foam roller, with mixed results. I find it very hard, even with a lot of experience and exacting technique, to not leave some roller marks.Then... I heard about and read some reviews for Breathing Color Timeless Varnish and thought I'd give their satin finish product a try. Though it is still hard for me to get perfect results with a foam roller, the product does seem to have excellent self-leveling properties that help with that a lot. And foamy air bubbles are not as present with Timeless as with the other two products when applying with a foam roller. THEN... I thought I'd give spraying another try with the Timeless Varnish and wow! I never plan to use a roller again! This stuff is fantastic!Applying two or three light coats, moving quickly with my inexpensive HVLP sprayer, yields a superb result for me. The finish is durable, clear, neutral, stretcable, and professional looking. My only issue is not a problem with the product but is due probably to my cheap sprayer and my not paying attention. I can get some small glops of varnish if the sprayer sputters when it begins to run out of product. However, if I notice these spots immediately, while still wet, I can dab these with my fingertip to remove. Then, because of the product's superb self-leveling properties, any smudge left from my finger usually just disappears. If it doesn't disappear completely, another coat of varnish will mitigate that. Considering that the other two products I tried cost about twice as much as Timeless Varnish by Breathing Color, I am very thrilled to have found this product! I'm hooked!-Kenneth Keifer Photography

I apply with a foam roller. Apply generously and roll out the ridges at the edges of the roller with ever lighter pressure until only the weight of the roller is working. This gives me great results. I get no underlying patterns from drips while moving the roller across untreated canvas, as I did with another brand.

I really like using this product. I have been using it for about 7 years now. makes the pictures look deep and rich looking. Very tough yet remains flexable, does not crack at the bends of tight canvas wraps

UPDATED:It's been a while since I needed to varnish a print but I used this product again with disastrous results. The varnish when rolled on with a foam roller lifted the ink right off the canvas! Same printer and the ink had cured on the canvas for 36 hours before rolling on the varnish. You can see by the image where it lifted off the print and you can see by the roller that the ink was absorbed by the roller. The varnish was rolled on sparingly with light to medium pressure (never hard). I'm not sure what happened here but I just lost a beautiful 22x36" print which I was going to exhibit. Luckily I was able to reprint it. Needless to say we're not taking another chance with this product. This is just a heads up as to what can happen. I'm not saying it will but don't be surprised when it does.I purchased this to protect and archive some canvas prints made for our studio display. Originally I used a fantastic automotive spray for headlights by Krylon which didn't yellow and was archival and sprayed perfectly (probably the same formula but package differently) but I got a little nervous because of the "automotive" branding so I tried another spray which was horrible. I decided to get this varnish and use it with a roller which introduced way too many bubbles so I tried a foam brush with not much better luck. Eventually the bubbles did dissipate however I personally did not like the finish. Even though I applied it very sparingly it just looked heavy. Now to be fair I only tried one print 20"x30" so maybe it was just my technique however the Automotive clear finish sprayed evenly and looked (still looks) fantastic.

I have now used this twice on 2 large (28x36) acrylic paintings reproducting Van Gogh's Red Vineyard and Van Gogh's Irises...what a beautiful varnish. I was really leary about the product, but it applied easily, didn't streak (I did use the large roller method for application recommended by the product developer) and the results were beautiful.Now they say it's good for 100 years, but I won't be around to test that part out. :) But, I'm really impressed for a water-based varnish, it finished the canvases beautifully. I will certainly use this again!

As a picture framer, I've found this product to work very well. Customers brought in old canvas paintings to be re-stretched. The paint was brittle and flaking off. The Timeless varnish stabilized the paint, so the process of stretching didn't do further damage. Our customers have been very pleased with the outcome of their restored paintings!

I used a foam roller to coat a large canvas print (18"x 67"). Could not work fast enough to get even coats due to fast dry time, so roller marks showed. Ended up having to put on three coats.

This varnish is top quality. The satin finish is a good compromise between matte and glossy. I was amazed by how carefuly and securely the varnish bottle was wrapped and shipped.