Oil painting storage questions

[catnapper]

Remove the saran wrap immediately. It will ruin the paintings. They need to breathe.

Store then standing on end like Laura said. Get some cheap frames to put around the to act as spacers or dividers. Nothing should be touching the fronts of these paintings. Go to the local art store (a REAL art store, not a craft store) and they sell document cleaning solutions that you can use to safely clean hte surface of these painintgs. I've done it many times in my life slowly and patiently with a small paintbrush dipped in the cleaner.

[king2005]

Remove the saran wrap immediately. It will ruin the paintings. They need to breathe.

Store then standing on end like Laura said. Get some cheap frames to put around the to act as spacers or dividers. Nothing should be touching the fronts of these paintings. Go to the local art store (a REAL art store, not a craft store) and they sell document cleaning solutions that you can use to safely clean hte surface of these painintgs. I've done it many times in my life slowly and patiently with a small paintbrush dipped in the cleaner.

Thank you & Laura for the good info. I emailed my friend the info, incase I forget to tell her (I'm on holidays going home tomorrow is gonna be stressful, so I my forget :P) even though I live with her lol

Thought...
We have a whole wack of that art & craft flat foam sheets. Do you think if we tape that to the back of the painting & then glue it thick to go past the front of the painting, so it touches the other foam on the other painting, that that'll be ok? & also line the bottom of the tote with the foam, so it acts as a shock obsorber.

Since you mentioned they need to breath, should I drill tiny holes at the top of the tote (under the lip, so if water falls ontop of the tote it cannot get in)???

We have to think cheap(we are quite poor), yet still save the paintings.

[catnapper]

cheap... are you handy with a saw? Go to the hardware store and buy lengths of thin flat wood, cut it so that it go around the outside of the painting and tack it with nails to the side of the canvas. You don't have to go crazy and make angled cuts for the edges of the makeshift frame, just cat flat pieces of wood and butt them up against each other. This way if all paintings are the same size then they can be standing next to each other and not touching each other because the wooden slats would be protecting the painting. Did that make sense?

[king2005]

cheap... are you handy with a saw? Go to the hardware store and buy lengths of thin flat wood, cut it so that it go around the outside of the painting and tack it with nails to the side of the canvas. You don't have to go crazy and make angled cuts for the edges of the makeshift frame, just cat flat pieces of wood and butt them up against each other. This way if all paintings are the same size then they can be standing next to each other and not touching each other because the wooden slats would be protecting the painting. Did that make sense?

That'll work. Once the kids go home, I'll start on that project. & at the same time I'll fix the antique dresser drawer (just needs to be reglued, I know how to do that properly)... My friend has loved all the handy work I have done in the house & on the cars so far.

[cyber-sibes]

Thought...
We have a whole wack of that art & craft flat foam sheets. Do you think if we tape that to the back of the painting & then glue it thick to go past the front of the painting, so it touches the other foam on the other painting, that that'll be ok? & also line the bottom of the tote with the foam, so it acts as a shock obsorber.

No, don't attach anything foam or plastic to the paintings. They contain & release chemicals that can be harmful to the paintings. Seriously, call your local art museum or a gallery and ask if they can direct you to someone for advice. There are a number of archival materials that are safe to use. I don't have enough experience with oil paintings to tell you anything more.
What you are doing sounds like a lovely idea, good luck.