Best white material for a back drop?

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Best white material for a back drop? Would it be curtain lining, muslin or a poly cotton? Paper seems to be expensive.
 
poly cotton?
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with poly cotton the more poly content the better as it can be stretched to remove creases
 
I guess it depends how much use it's going to have, I would personally use paper, as your pretty much guaranteed no creases, or you could use vinyl. If your using material, (muslin etc.) it's only really any good if it's in a permanent place i.e. a studio, where it's constantly hung up, as soon as you start folding it up then you get the problems, unless of course your prepared to get the iron out every time, which wouldn't be for me, I hate ironing a pair of jeans, lol.
 
In order of preference I'd go vinyl, paper then cloth. Paper would be the best option cheaper to replace than vinyl.
But then if you going to blow it out with light anything would do.
 
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I use paper and provided you are sensible with it it's pretty reuseable. I also didn't like the thought of ironing and I don't think paper is too expensive at less than £30 for an 11m long 1.2m wide roll?
 
A colleague of mine uses a white 'knitted' backcloth. No ironing involved at all. Its really good as any creases can be stretched out, then it can be taped to the floor if necessary to keep them out or weighed down under things. Its also easy to wash and transport. I think lastolite and other companies do them in various colours.

My colleague also uses paper but its very picky to store - if the storage space is cold or has any damp atmosphere the paper develops multiple undulations from sucking up the damp from the atmosphere that mean you have to dump the roll as the undulations cannot be removed and can be difficult to kill with lighting.
 
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redsnappa said:
with poly cotton the more poly content the better as it can be stretched to remove creases
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Poly cotton also holds creases with frustrating ease.

Pure cotton would be the easiest to steam, or even wool, but it would take a LONG time. My hobby is dressmaking and it can take me an hour to iron the creases out of a couple of meters of 60" wide fabric.

Also poly content doesn't mean it will stretch. Lycra or similar is what makes a fabric stretch. Or a jersey knit. Poly cotton doesn't have stretch.
 
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MidnightUK said:
A colleague of mine uses a white 'knitted' backcloth. No ironing involved at all. Its really good as any creases can be stretched out, then it can be taped to the floor if necessary to keep them out or weighed down under things. Its also easy to wash and transport. I think lastolite and other companies do them in various colours.

My colleague also uses paper but its very picky to store - if the storage space is cold or has any damp atmosphere the paper develops multiple undulations from sucking up the damp from the atmosphere that mean you have to dump the roll as the undulations cannot be removed and can be difficult to kill with lighting.
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I store my paper in the garage and have no issues? I do store it back in its original poly bag which I tape up.
 
Well it was not my roll of paper - my colleague told me that was the cause of the issue. He stored it in a dry but unheated garage. Was ok when it went in, when it came out the whole roll was covered in ripples. Hence I am wary of using any paper unless it can be stored in a heated or at least moderate enviroment as its expensive to write off an entire roll. Maybe your keeping it in plastic is the wise way to handle the issue.

I would recommend the knitted backdrops (it does not look knitted on photos, just normal white fabric or whatever colour you pick). Stored just stuffed in a bag but when up and stretched/clamped/taped down to the background support according to choice, it has no creases at all on it. Light and easy to handle.

Also, can be used to drap over stuff so fairly multi purpose.
 
The key with paper is to keep it in a dry place, with the roll stored verically (or almost vertically) eg up against a wall.

If you're always going to be blowing the white out, then small creases won't matter too much, especially if you can get some distance between the subject and the background - so fabric will be ok.

If you're going for an unlit or 'anything other than bright white' background, then you need to be using paper (or vinyl - though vinyl doesn't look quite as nice) really imho.
 
This is a question I have been asked umpty ump times in the last fifteen years - and the above answers confirm my stock answer....
There is no best material for a white background - every one has its faults, and rather than choosing the best, you have to choose the least worst for your circumstances.

Back in about 2007 when white 'chavgrounds' as Garry likes to call them were filtering into the schools market I worked on trials with three large schools photography operators who each tested paper, vinyl and the Lastolite Hilite which was pretty new then.... One company went for paper, one for vinyl and the other for the Hilite - all for the same job to produce the same sort of images.
 
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