What You Should Know To Protect Your Art When Framing          

Arm yourself with this information before framing your art! 

GLASS:  Glass should by used on every framing project you have, except oil paintings.  Why?  Glass protects the art from harmful contaminants in the atmosphere.  The dirt and contaminants in the air will be absorbed by any paper product.  Protect you art with the proper glass.  The proper glass can make all the difference in the life expectancy of your photos, certificates, art, etc..  How?  Regular framing glass will only filter out around 23% of UV Rays,  Non Glare glass about 47%, conservation glass over 97%.  The better the glass the longer your valuable art will last.

MATTING:  Matting enhances as well as keeps you art away from the glass in your frame.  Matting, whether it be a single, double, triple, etc..  not only enhances the beauty of your art, but it also keeps your art away from the glass.  You should never put any photo, certificate, diploma, piece of art, etc. against glass in a picture frame.  Humidity enters and leaves all pieces of framed art constantly (Dust covers do not stop this from happening).  As humidity comes into you framed art, it brings in with it all the dirt and contaminants it contains.  If you art is against the glass, it will be trapped and will dry there.  This causes two problems.  First you will start to see your art getting dirty from the dry humidity, and secondly you art  will eventually fuse or glue itself to the glass and thus be ruined.  Protect valuable photos, and art with matting.  All matting is not created equal.  In the early days of custom framing, matting was buffered only.  What does this mean.  Although the art was protected by matting, the mating core which was buffered was a beige color that would fade drastically and at different shades.  The top color of the mat would also fade at a substantial rate.  Although buffered matting is still being used today because it is somewhat cheaper than acid free mats, it is best to invest a little extra money and purchase totally acid free mats.  The top coloring will not fade like buffered mats and the core will stay white.

MOUNTING:   All art should be properly mounted.  inexpensive art, photos, diplomas, certificates, etc.. should by dry mounted.  This will permanently bind the art to a foam board and thus keep it from ever warping, curling, or waving.  Expensive art that you purchase for future value, or to sell, should by conservation mounted.  This process will keep you art in place with out glues by using rag board and mylar hinges or a special reversible framers tape that will not harm your art.  This mounting process ensures that you can sell you art at a future date without it being altered ( Dry Mounted ) , or permanently glued, thus affecting its value.

 

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