I've got all the pieces for my flag fans ready to go. I'm sure there is something I can spray them with to protect them when it rains, but I have no idea what? Any ideas appreciated. I picked up a gorgrous old gold paper at JoAnn's last night and am making a fuer de lis on one of the fans by cutting that out. I can't wait. I also made a device out of my characters last name and will make the other one to match that. I hope this works, things are crossed here.
I don't know what flag fans are, but my bet would be "Camp Dry" you can find it is the tent section of stores with a camping section, or in the shoe section of Walmart. I've had good experience with the stuff in the past.
Since it's paper, any coating won't be totally waterproof. If you really want it to safe, you might want to take it to Kinko's and have them laminate it. Otherwise, you might try Mod Podge, which is a glue and coat product.
it would be interesting to see what effect Thomson's Water Seal would have.
i've treated fabrics with it, and it increases the surface tension to the point where water will not pass through cheesecloth,
i would think paper would be no problem. keep in-mind submersion in the liquid sealant is involved.
painting it on might work but it would need to get wet in the process.
knowing that some papers bleed when they get wet, I'd try Minwax Polycrylic. I've used it on paper a lot, including ink jet printed items. The spray version might be better for your project, but you'll need to do many thin coats to ensure that the paper won't crinkle (been there, done that) I've only worked with the paint on version, so I can't give any tips on the spray, but somebody at the store should have some idea of how the 2 are different. The nicest thing about Polycrylic is that it's water based, so you clean up with water and you don't have to worry about wearing gloves.
Quote from: jcbanner on May 11, 2008, 11:39:31 AM
I don't know what flag fans are
There's a couple of pictures on flag fans on this page.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/eventail/history1.htm