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Originally Posted by Mary Cupp
. . . twice as many threads going one direction as the other. It also said that the shrinkage was a lot more in one direction. That doesn't sound like something that would be stable enough for painting.
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As with most aspects of oil painting, painting on stretched canvas is a proposition that comes pre-loaded with misinformation, prejudices, mythologies, and of course, personal preferences. It is not difficult nor especially time-consuming to prepare your own painting supports in the studio, but it does require "craft" to do it well - attention to detail, some experience with materials, and common sense.
Jean has outlined the first necessary steps for dealing with any fabric stuffs for painting. Washing eliminates all "foreign" sizings and /or fullering applied in the mill and pre-shrinks the material, which will definitely make for a predictable response and a good foundation for building the support.
Glue size is called "size" for a good reason. Regardless what stresses or amount of shrinkage obtain when the material is wetted with a glue size solution,
all movement is "fixed" when the glue is dry and stresses eliminated for all practical purposes. Cut an old painting off of the stretcher, and it will appear as a "slab", inert as an old piece of linoleum! Ergo, when it comes down to working with a given material, it matters not whether the warp shrinks more than the weft, so long as one follows correct procedures, and uses sizing and priming materials of optimal quality.
Working with canvases of different fibers, weights, thread counts and weave patterns I have found "square weave" materials invariably exhibit the greatest amount of shrinkage (and hence, internal stresses) as opposed to other weave patterns. Twills are nearly immoveable on the bias, with some "give" 90 degrees opposed. Some herringbone weaves can equalize stresses such that shrinkage is unnoticeable.
You would think these behaviors would make these weaves preferred supports in terms of strength and stability, but nowadays, one seldom encounters other than square-weave linen and cotton in varying weights and thread counts, although hemp and other weave patterns were common enough in earlier times .
In terms of long-term durability, panels are a better support than stretched canvases, but problems with surface quality, flatness and the weight of large panels have made stretched canvas the "best solution" for many hundreds of years. In any case, 80 to 100 years is about the lifespan of a stretched canvas before re-lining becomes necessary.
However, canvas glued to a panel isn't going "anywhere", not being subject to the same stresses as a stretched canvas, or the possibility of being punctured, dented, torn, or becoming slack on the stretcher frame, and sagging, bagging, or puckering.