How to Remove a Gallery Wrapped Canvas from Stretcher Bars That Has Splining

Feb 23, 2024

THINGS TO CONSIDER IF YOU PLAN TO SHIP A ROLLED CANVAS: 

1. To spline or not to spline…. that is the question. I love the clean, finished look of a splined canvas, but recently I learned the hard way, that removing a canvas from a support like this is not so neat and tidy!


2. In the future, I will only use this type of canvas support if I have zero plans to remove the canvas from the stretcher bars. 

 THOUGHTS??Let me know down below! 

 Thanks to @betty.franks.art for her awesome YouTube video on this topic. 


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What is a Splined Canvas?

 A splined canvas is a gallery wrapped canvas that has that little groove/channel on the wooden support that the canvas is neatly tucked into.  It looks so professional and tidy, and has less visible staples for a nice gallery look.  The canvas is held in place by a roping that is pushed down into that groove, but then, the canvas is also stapled in place ....down in that tight groove!  This makes the canvas very secure, which is great, until you try to remove the canvas from the support. 

tools that help

The multipurpose tool (the one with the yellow and black handle in my pic) Betty recommended was helpful for getting the staples out of that skinny groove, but I still damaged the wood in the process.