Shipping

At Floating World Gallery, we strive to make our packaging efficient, archival, and durable.  From our choices of materials to the conditions of travel, we do our best to anticipate and prevent avoidable damage to your purchase.

Our prints are packed using a three layered approach – first, an archival layer; second, a water barrier; and third, a rigid outer shell.  We start by folding archival paper around the print, providing a PH neutral barrier between the print and other elements of the packaging.  The print is then wrapped in a food-grade polyethylene plastic, with all strips of tape tabbed on the ends for easy opening.

The wrapped print is then affixed to a heavy-duty, double wall sheet of cardboard using folded paper corners.  This allows us to avoid applying tape directly to the wrapped print to reduce risk of creasing or buckling when the print is unwrapped.  An additional sheet of cardboard is placed over top of the print with the corrugation running perpendicular to the first sheet for added package strength.

The cardboard is then sealed around all sides with strapping tape.  At minimum, a 1.5 inch margin is left between the edge of the print and the outer edge of the cardboard shell to prevent damage from corner impacts and to create a buffer zone when cutting open the package.

We also specialize in packing paintings for domestic and international travel.  The same layering principles mentioned above also apply here.  We begin by choosing from a range of archival wrapping materials, including acid-free tissue, glassine, and dartek (cast nylon film).  The specific material selection depends on the artwork’s unique surface characteristics.

Artworks are then sealed in a thick polyethylene plastic for waterproofing.  We finish by constructing an outer shell using our extremely rigid double-wall cardboard.  In most cases, we build a custom inner box, which fits snug to the piece, followed by a custom outer box, with a one to two inch foam layer between for shock absorption (packing peanuts for smaller, one-way shipments, or high density ether-based foam pads cut to size and hot glued in place for larger, multi-use boxes).

Once fully constructed, these boxes exhibit a high degree of strength and durability without adding unnecessary weight or bulk.