Hi,
We did a show where it rained all weekend! Our photographs are mounted on foam core and matted with 8-ply cotton rag. We had bubbling on the prints, and when we got home and removed them from the frames, the foam core and mat were badly warped. We are using the vacuum press to repair bubbling, but we are trying to come up with a way to salvage the mounted print, warped foam core, and mat. Can't use heat, causes orange peeling on prints. We thought perhaps trying to attach something rigid (like 1/8" Sintra board) to the back once the sandwich is straightened, then sealing the sandwich with some kind of moisture-proof tape might be a solution. We have so much invested in this inventory, can't bear the thought of just having to trash it. Any ideas? Thanks so much,
Julie
Replies
I stopped dry mounting and spray mounting year ago due to the heat issue. I had several large photo prints bubble up in high 80's and above heat, and it wasn't repairable.
Matting for art festival sales is a little different from conventional art display methods because of the environmental issues. The linen hinges allow the print to float free
of the backer and to some extent the front matte. The prints can still buckle, particularly if in direct sun, but they can still be remounted with vacuum or dry mount with no ill effects.
Any prints I do sized 16x24 and under are mounted with linen hinges to the back of the front matte. If the mattes expand or the foam-cor gets warped, it's easy enough to remove the print safely and rematte or mount. That combination doesn't do well in frames that get in direct sunlight as the print will get wavy. I've go a pair of 20x30 prints that were in sunlight a couple of shows back, and those are headed to Hobby-Lobby tomorrow to get vacuum mounted to get rid of the ripples.
These are matted prints? How are they stored at a show? You shouldn't have had that problem if they are sealed in Clearbags (Clearbags.com). I've had Clearbags protected prints get rained on with no ill effect.
This has happened to me with frames...my experience is that once the foam-core is warp, there is not much you can do but re-frame with new materials. I do find that putting a dustcover helps a bit (a small bit). If there is moisture in the frame best to start new rather than have mold take root. Sorry, this one of the hazards of the job.