Glamour 2

While not specifically designed for this purpose, Glamour II Veneer can be used as a mounting adhesive.  When you are using Glamour II Veneer as a mounting adhesive, you want to dilute it 10% with distilled water. After diluting, apply it to the surface that you will be mounting your inkjet canvas or fine art paper print to, then work out any bubbles or uneven surfaces.  Once mounted, remove any excess coating around the edges of your print.  
 

The recommended water to varnish ratio is: 30% distilled water and 70% coating. It is very important that you distilled water, rather that tap or drinking water.  The minerals added to drinking water will effect the integrity of the coating. Before mixing the water into the varnish, heat up the water in the microwave. Heating up the distilled water will help improve the effect of the self level agents leaving your print with no roller streaks. It is always safe to have less water than coating.  A major problem with coating canvas is users over diluting the coating.

Air bubbles can be caused by a variety of things.  Breathing Color has tested every single possible variable to the foam rolling process of coating. Most of the time bubbles in the print are caused by "under rolling."  You want to cover your print by going in multiple directions, not just one. The canvas has to "drink" the coating in.  If you see bubbles at the start of your coating process, it is the canvas sucking the coating into the print. The desired dilution ratio of water to coating is 30% water 70% coating.  There has been cases of bubbles forming from over diluted coating. Please allow the canvas 24 hours of dry time as well. After 24 hours when you come back to your print, youl will notice that the bubbles have disappeared.

Optimal drying conditions for our Glamour II would be 65 degress or higher and 60% relative humidity or lower. Also keep in mind it is always a good idea to have a low dust drying enviroment. It is not a good idea to have any type of fan on while drying varnish. If you have a high ceiling or cannot control the temperature at night, when out of the sudio/office, space heaters can be used to boost the average temperature and should not effect the integrity of the product.

Almost every problem that can occur with Glamour II, can be solved by using more of it. If you are experiencing cracking, chances are you did not use enough of it. Therefore, make sure when spraying your prints, that you always use 2 heavy coats. Though Glamour II is temperature sensitive and is mildly susceptible to environmental conditions, your prints should never crack if you have applied enough Glamour II.  When applying Glamour II with a foam roller, you still should be able to get away with one coat, but make sure you apply the Glamour II generously.

Glamour II Veneer is a practically odorless water-based coating that can be applied in a closed room. It is NOT a solvent-based coating which in contrast are extremely hazardous and emit very strong odors. If you are more sensitive to chemicals and odors, or are generally concerned with health, then we would always recommend using a mask when applying any coating from any manufactuer -- just to be on the safe side.

Dilute more. If you dilute less than 30% with water, the more likely this is to happen. If you are diluting with 30% already, try 40% or even 50% to reduce tackiness. Make sure the coating has completely dried and is no longer sticky before storing prints face-to-face or putting them behind a temporary frame that you ultimately intend to remove. Also try using a thinner coat. If you are using too much product, this could happen.

Glamour II Veneer giclee coating has been known to work with various artist paints for embellishment, however it is always recommended that you perform a test with a small scrap of coated canvas to avoid a negative reaction.

Glamour II Veneer giclee coating can be rolled on with a dense foam roller, sprayed on with an HVLP gun (50% dilution), or used with a roll coating machine (50% dilution).

When rolling Glamour II Veneer you are going to want to dilute it down 25%-30% with warm distilled water.  You can apply the glamour directly to the print, and then immediately start to roll the Glamour II onto the canvas.  Do not apply pressure to the roller, and make multiple passes in opposite directions.  A good way to know if you are almost done rolling, is to listen for the "sticky" sound of the Glamour II.  This means that the coating has been worked into the canvas and is starting to dry.  The more time you spend working the Glamour II into the canvas, the faster it will dry and the better your print will look.  Please allow at least a full 24 hours for your print to dry.

We do not recommend storying Glamour II Veneer after it has been diluted. Only dilute as much as you will need when you are coating. Storing Glamour II Veneer after diluting can cause it to separate and harden.

We do not recommend an air pressure setting as not all guns, air compressors, nozzles, etc. are the same. Therefore it is recommended that customers using an HVLP gun to coat with Glamour II Veneer test several different pressure settings and coating techniques to determine the best solution for each unique setup is.

Water is the only cleanup needed for Glamour II Veneer to be removed from the foam roller and other surfaces. If the coating becomes difficult to remove from any surface, including the HVLP reservoir, 409 all purpose cleaner will disintegrate Glamour II Veneer upon contact.

Heat lamps are not suggested for drying Glamour II Veneer. In fact, cold air is the best way to dry Glamour II Veneer but be careful if you are considering a fan not to blow dust or debris onto a wet print.

Glamour II Veneer, like all varnishes and veneers, need to be dried before stretching or mounting. Glamour II Veneer is a water-based coating therefore drying time can vary drastically depending on where it is being used. In very dry climate, Glamour II Veneer can dry within thirty minutes. In very wet climate, Glamour II may not dry for two hours. The average drying time, however, is approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

The drying time for this product can also vary based upon your chosen dilution ratio. The more you dilute, the faster it will dry. If you don't dilute at all, Glamour II could take several days to dry. A minimum 20% dilution is normally required, although some of our customers have discovered their own method of applying without dilution.

To create the most consistent finish on your print, make sure you follow a few pointers:

1) Make sure you have about 30% water. (40% is a good dilution as well, but your gloss will slowly lessen with more water, and you can always coat twice.) A good way to prevent an inconsistent mixture of water and coating is to use hot water. Hot water will will make sure that the water is completely mixed into the coating.
2) Make sure you roll gently. The less pressure you apply on the roller, the less varnish squeezes out from the side of the rollers that create streaks.
3) Make sure you have a thick enough coating. To ensure that you have enough coating, I recommend pouring the Glamour II directly onto your print. You can pour 3-4 thin lines across your print. This also eliminates the process of having to re-dip your roller back into the tray.
4) Make sure you allow your print to sit even if you see light streaks or differences in thickness in coating. If the coat is thick enough, Glamour II will self-level.

Hopefully you have already watched our instructional video on "How to Apply Glamour II Veneer" which provides a very detailed look at how to apply Glamour II Veneer properly.

If you still have streaks, there are a few things you need to focus on:

(1) How much are you diluting with water? Try adding more water (at least 40%).
(2) Before adding the water to the coating, heat it in the microwave for about 8 to 10 seconds depending on how much water you are adding. The water should be above luke warm but not boiling. The heated water will help in mixing with Glamour II Veneer.
(3) When stirring the heated water and Glamour II Veneer together, stir lightly and slowly. If you try to mix them together too fast or too aggressively, it can create air bubbles that are difficult to get out of the coating once it is applied to the print. Once dried, these air bubbles are even more visible and can ruin your print.
(4) When you are first applying Glamour II Veneer to your inkjet canvas or fine art paper, be very generous with the application. Some of our customers even find success in pouring the coating directly onto the print in even lines across the whole print. Once this is done, the foam roller is then just used to spread the Glamour II Veneer around evenly.
(5) If you decide to apply Glamour II Veneer without pouring it straight onto the inkjet canvas or fine art paper and instead apply it with the foam roller directly, make sure to stay away from any bumby parts of the tray with the foam roller. When you are moving the roller around in the tray to saturate it with Glamour II Veneer, the bumbs can cause indentations in the foam which will transfer over to your prints and ultimately leave some service uncovered.
(6) Try to go over the print with the foam roller the least amount of times possible. We have found that the more times you run your foam roller over the Glamour II Veneer, the more coating you are actually taking off of the print. If you still see lines in the coating, wait until it dries to see if they go away. If you have been generous enough with the coating, the leveling agents in the Glamour II Veneer will cause the streaks to go away as it is drying.
(7) Apply the least amount of pressure possible when going over your inkjet canvas or fine art paper with the Glamour II Veneer. Pressure will cause indentations in the coating which will cause streaks once it has dried.
*this article will help if you have streaks, streaking, or lines when trying to apply Glamour II

There are a couple different techniques that you can use to acquire a matte finish using our varnish. First off which would be to apply a thin coat of gloss varnish first. Please wait for it to become fully dry before taking the next step. After the print has dried, you can apply a heavy coat of matte over the first thin gloss base coat. This should give it a matte finish when it has completed drying.

Another method would be to mix the varnish together. Glamour II Gloss and Glamour II Matte are 100% compatible with each other. A good gloss-to-matte ratio would be 20% gloss - 80% matte.

This process may require some trial and error to find what ratio best suits your prints. However, 20% gloss and 80% matte seems to be a an average ratio for matte finishes.

Once you have found your desired ratio, it would be a good idea to invest in a graduated cylinder (the glass instrument use to measure fluids). This will make it very easy to maintain the exact same coating ratio for all of your prints.