It’s important that your paintings or sculptures are properly packaged to prevent damages to it throughout the shipping process. Below, is our guide on what to know about packaging, shipping, and transporting your fine art.
1. How to Pack Unframed Paintings
When packing unframed paintings, it’s important that you don’t touch it with your hands. Instead, use cotton gloves when handling the art. Wrap the artwork in acid-free tissue paper. If you are concerned about damage from moisture, wrap it in additional plastic.
To properly wrap it, fold acid-free tissue paper into triangles with an edge open, then put a triangle around each corner of the frame. Safeguarding the corners will help protect the piece during transport. Then, you should take tape each corner and mount each piece with tape in addition to foam core or cardboard. Once you’ve placed a few layers down on each side, tape all the pieces together.
After you tape the final piece, take two separate and equal pieces of corrugated cardboard and place your artwork in the middle, taping it to secure it completely. Finally, place your artwork in a mirror box for added protection.
2. How to Pack Framed Paintings
When packing your framed paintings, DC pro movers say to either create a crate that it can fit it or find a box alternative, with at least three inches of space on each side of the artwork. Next, wrap it in acid-free tissue paper and bubble wrap, with additional layers in each corner. Then, place foam layers in your shipping container, enough for your artwork to rest on. Pack the “open” areas with packing material until it is snugly fit.
3. How to Pack a Sculpture
To properly pack your sculpture for shipping, wrap the top half at least two times over in bubble wrap and secure it with tape. Next wrap the bottom half with bubble wrap at least two times over and secure it with tape. However, make sure to overlap the middle a small amount and wrap the overlay in a layer of tape to secure it. Fill your shipping box with shredded paper at least ⅓ full. Just make sure you set a sizeable hole in the middle to place your sculpture down. Once you set it down in your box, fill the remaining area with shredded paper to secure your sculpture. Finally, tape the box shut and label it with your shipping address and add one layer of tape over that to prevent it coming off throughout the shipping process.
4. Shipping
Now that your artwork is packaged correctly, it’s time to ship it off. Although there are a variety of delivery companies to choose from, the two main types are common carriers that handle small to medium-sized packages and large freight companies that handle larger shipments. However, there are also fine arts shipping services, which are companies that provide door-to-door trucking with special handling for valuable items, but they are often much more expensive than the shipping options we previously mentioned.
