No matter how careful you are you’re probably going to hit or knock your canvases at some point and get a dent in them. As much you push the dent back out from the underside it won’t work, that’s because the fine canvas threads have been stretched in that area. Even if you fit the canvas tightening wedges that come with most canvases into the corners, it still won’t work. So let me show you what does work:
Here is my dented canvas.You can see in this close-up the dent it quite deep.If I were to try and push the dent out from this side it would simply not work.So what you need is a clean rag or sponge and make it wet, ..very wet. You can’t damage your canvas by making it too wet (avoid getting too much water on the wooden stretchers).Turn your canvas over and place it on a clean flat surface, then with your wet rag/sponge wet the back of the canvas all around the dented area.Rub your rag or sponge up, down, back and fore until the weave of the canvas it good and wet.Once the canvas is sodden, apply some pressure to the dented area and push it down flat.It will do no harm to leave the soaked rag/sponge on the effected area for a minute of so.After a couple of minutes rubbing the back of the canvas this is what the dented area looked like on my canvas. The brush handle is pointing at the dent.All that remains of the damage to my canvas is a small impression left where the dent was at it’s sharpest.This is the canvas after going through the process above, fixed.This beautiful girl (Pusspuss) is the reason my canvas had a dent in it in the first place, she denies responsibility.
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