What is "Cotton Duck" canvas ?

DUCK

/dʌk/

noun

1. a waterbird with a broad blunt bill, short legs, webbed feet, and a waddling gait……..

D‑U‑C‑K….. (not D‑U‑C‑T !) simply comes from the Dutch word “doek”, meaning “cloth”.

Canvas comes in two forms: plain and duck.

Duck is a heavy‑duty cotton fabric, sturdier than plain cotton and holds shape better than standard canvas.

Both duck and plain canvas are plain‑woven fabrics, but there are a few differences between them:

• Duck is more tightly woven than plain canvas.

• Duck is graded on a scale of 1 to 12, with 12 being the lightest fabric and 1 the heaviest (a system formalised in the 1920s).

• Duck is made exclusively from cotton, hence sometimes referred to as cotton duck canvas or cotton duck fabric.

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By definition, there are two types of “canvas”

Linen is produced from flax plant fibres — traditionally harvested by hand in parts of Europe, and still substantially more expensive.

Cotton canvas is produced from the soft fibre surrounding cotton seeds — more affordable due to commercial harvesting.

Under the cotton category, you get plain and duck cotton …..which is how we arrive at the term “Cotton Duck”, the cloth we use to manufacture our signature brand canvas.

Cotton duck became widely used in the 19th century as industrial cotton production expanded — long before acrylic paint existed — but its strength and affordability made it a favourite for large‑scale works.

The earliest surviving cotton canvases appear centuries later; medieval and Renaissance artists painted on linen, not cotton duck.

The reason that we use the Duck and not the Plain variation is that duck threads are a lot more tightly woven, which is very important. Looser threads pose the risk of over‑stretching or even tearing when stretching onto a frame. In addition, the tighter your weave, the better and more consistent the application of your primer.

Duck is flexible – and it’s strong.

In weaving a canvas, the plain weave is used since it is the strongest and most hard‑wearing of the weaves for painting supports.

Cotton duck uses a denser variation of the plain weave, created by using plied yarns (bundled threads) in the warp and/or weft. This is sometimes mistaken for a basket weave, but technically remains a tight plain weave — engineered for added strength, durability, and to facilitate the sizing, priming and sanding processes we apply to arrive at our finished product.

This is where I have to mention how especially vital it is that the cloth is stretched properly, especially for larger paintings. At ETH Canvas, our years of expertise in this field have enabled us to supply you not only with professional advice in this regard, but bespoke customization where required.

Close attention is paid to the construction of our stretchers and the technique employed to stretch the cloth.

Without getting too technical, a canvas needs to be sized (especially cotton) before priming.

This is the process by which a layer of gelatinous material is applied to the raw canvas prior to priming, so as to seal the pores in the surface of the cloth. This “waterproofing” is vital in preventing fluid (paint) from seeping through into the fibres of the canvas and ultimately rotting the cloth. It also obviously reduces the volume of paint you need.

The primer we use does both. Our canvasses are expertly sized and primed, resulting in a surface that is ideal for any medium. And to bring you back to the point: our particular choice (weight and weave) of cotton duck contributes to the efficacy of this process — tighter threads, woven in a stronger pattern. It’s quite simply a winning combination!

By no means disregard the natural beauty and smooth, stiff painting surface provided by linen — the qualities that originally seduced our masters of old — but when it comes to canvas, the quality that is an ETH Canvas remains unparalleled.

Give your work the gift of immortality with an ETH Canvas as it transports you through the realms of your creative process. Perfectly smooth, expertly primed, and with just enough tooth to ensure maximum reflection of colour and light.

We guarantee it. We are artists ourselves. We know exactly what you need in a canvas.