Keeping those muslins wrinkle-free!

I have a "home studio" which translates as "honey, move the furniture, I'm a gonna do me some shootin' " As such, I have three muslins that I attempt to roll up every time after the 'session'. Of course, they are very wrinkled by the time I pull them out of the closet next.

I'd like to hear some clever ideas on how to roll them properly for storage so as not to wrinkle them. Obviously, a long pipe of some sort would probably do well but I cannot claim to have easy access to long pipes...maybe cheap PVC from the local hardware? Even so, one is nearly 10' x 8'...that would be quite a long PVC and I suspect it would break easily...

Thanks.

actually, a lot of people leave them wrinkled for the BG. The more random, the better. Folded neatly will leave you with the bothersome lines. Rumple it up when you put it away

I have 10x20 in my living room, rolled up like a carpet, no pipe.

When new I twist them tightly and stuff in garbage bag and let sit day or so.

Then I will hang it and some wrinkles will soften in time with just hanging. Personally I like the soft wrinkle look, others dont. Factory creases can be worked out easily after its hung by just grabing a fistfull of crease and twisting it. However in small room in a house, it makes sense to have something smoother.

I use a PVC tube for my 53" seamless paper, but for my 10'x24' and 10'x20' muslin backgrounds, I use an electric conduit pipe.

I also let mine be wrinkled. But if really want the smooth look because someone will be sitting on it then I steam it (sucks) or lay it on the ground and iron( just as sucky)

With a black wrinkled background, it wouldn't be hard just to underexpose it to have it look like a total black background no matter how wrinkled, would it?

With a white BG, I am guessing it would be really hard... I am keen to hear how others keep backgrounds wrinkle free too. SYS, what is the diameter of the pipe you use? How do you store it? Do you have a cover that you use to keep it free from stains, dirt, scuffs when in storage?

nuffi wrote in post #7691315
SYS, what is the diameter of the pipe you use? How do you store it? Do you have a cover that you use to keep it free from stains, dirt, scuffs when in storage?

My electric conduit pipe's diameter is 14/16" and 10' long. Both ends were drilled to have the lightstands' end to go through. I don't take it down from the stands, but in case I need to for storage purpose, it's a simple physical move. If I'm storing the rolled muslins for a long term, I'd simply use a tarp and keep things in place with clamps.

smooth--paper
muslin--wrikled

Freebird - I like the garbage bag idea...would actually work well in my closet. Thanks to all for the replies.

Seamless paper, now that must be another matter; but I dream of a far-off studio day...yea, I digress...

slowdad wrote in post #7691571
smooth--paper
muslin--wrikled

True, but you still have to be careful with seamless paper. If it's left unrolled it will begin to warp and buckle a bit, especially if you have an environment where temperature and humidity change. If you're using white and rendering as pure white it's not a big deal because all texture and detail is lost. If you're not rendering as pure white it can be quite bothersome and ugly.

My recommendation when using seamless is to roll it up when not in use to avoid this problem.

TMR Design wrote in post #7714508
True, but you still have to be careful with seamless paper. If it's left unrolled it will begin to warp and buckle a bit, especially if you have an environment where temperature and humidity change. If you're using white and rendering as pure white it's not a big deal because all texture and detail is lost. If you're not rendering as pure white it can be quite bothersome and ugly.

My recommendation when using seamless is to roll it up when not in use to avoid this problem.

I hear that........In just couple days on floor its not laying flat. I wish I would have known that but oh well. Your right Robert, lt only looks decent when its lighted after it gets buckles in it. I dont know if plexiglass would rid the buckles or not once it got to that point. I bought a long roll so I will just be cutting.

I have floor heating in my studio, that probably does not help me.

My noob assumption.... Shooting subject and DOF renders most backgrounds out of focus anyhow correct? If so then muslin wrinkles really don't matter. Right?

mellofelow wrote in post #7714779
My noob assumption.... Shooting subject and DOF renders most backgrounds out of focus anyhow correct? If so then muslin wrinkles really don't matter. Right?

Too much of a generalization. if you don't have the distance from subject to background you can be shooting at f/2.8 and still see detail in the background. On the other hand, f/2.8 may render the background out of focus and lose detail but may be too shallow for shooting a subject at close range, leaving you with unsharp features.

mellofelow wrote in post #7714779
My noob assumption.... Shooting subject and DOF renders most backgrounds out of focus anyhow correct? If so then muslin wrinkles really don't matter. Right?

It's as much a function of the camera-subject : subject-background ratio as it is your aperture. While it may be easy to shoot 2.8 with a single subject, stick 3-4 people up there and you'll be at f/11 to get a sharp group... which will instantly bring your background into focus.