Sealing packages

[Zac]

Just curious as to what the general opinion is on whether sealing the package of glass/mount/artwork/barrier is necessary, and if so what tape is used.

I was taught to always do it, and I like the fact that once it's sealed nothing can get in and the glass can't be smudged, and I always use Sekisui to do it.

A colleague recently scoffed at this, saying they only do it for valuable pieces, and that they use masking tape when they do.

Am I being overly cautious? Is there cheaper/better tape I should be using?

[vintage frames]

If you can allow the time in your work schedule to do it then why not?
It's a good thing to do and it certainly doesn't do any harm.
There's always the chance the there's a bit of dust hidden in the frame rebates and these can drop down into the glass /board sandwich. Sealing the sides will obviously prevent that from happening.
I wouldn't use masking tape though. It can 'bake' over a long period of time and become a real nuisance to any future work on the artwork.
If the tape you are using is of good and recommended quality for picture framing, then go ahead.

[prospero]

I've been doing this for years. It doesn't take long and once done you know no bits can get in. It's much easier
the handle one unified object than faff about loading separate glass/mount/back into a frame. It's when you try
to do this that bits get sucked in. Also when in the frame it's an excellent barrier against the dreaded little black flies.
I use masking tape for this. It stays sticky for a long time so the flies have two choices - wiggle over the tape edge and
continue to expire unseen or try to get under the tape and get stuck.
And before someone says "But masking tape isn't Acid-Free!". Well it doesn't have to be. It's well away from the artwork.
Besides, whatever imagined damage the tape could do is far outweighed by the havoc wreaked by the flies. If they die in the
middle of a watercolour they leave a spot which is nigh-on impossible to remove.

This is a frame I opened after maybe 20 years and many flies have met their demise before penetrating. Q.E.D.

[vintage frames]

20 years is fine for a good quality masking tape - maybe.
My own experience of opening up packages that were from a lot earlier age is that the tape had baked in hard and was a real labour to remove from the glass.
And that was an issue because I always wanted to re-use the original crown glass.
On more recent art, that problem doesn't arise.

[Justintime]

I've used a white acid free self adhesive like Nitto tape/P70 for a few years on most work, saving the acid free gummed tape for level 1 work but recently started to use the gummed tape for everything. Masking tape is banned in my work space, I can't stand the stuff. If you've ever had to open up a package and retape it, gummed tape is very easy and happily sticks onto the previous tape, unlike some of the self adhesive tapes. My feeling is if I've gone to all the trouble of using quality materials and techniques, why seal it with an inferior tape.

[prospero]

I've used a white acid free self adhesive like Nitto tape/P70 for a few years on most work, saving the acid free gummed tape for level 1 work but recently started to use the gummed tape for everything. Masking tape is banned in my work space, I can't stand the stuff. If you've ever had to open up a package and retape it, gummed tape is very easy and happily sticks onto the previous tape, unlike some of the self adhesive tapes. My feeling is if I've gone to all the trouble of using quality materials and techniques, why seal it with an inferior tape.

I'm not talking about the tape used for papering the outside of the frame. I'm referring to the tape used to 'wrap' the
glass/art/back. In this situation masking tape is the ideal thing IMHO.

[Justintime]

Yup, sealing the package not the frame, we're talking about the same thing, just differently

[Tudor Rose]

We tend to use P90.

[JKX]

I rarely did it but if I did I'd use foil tape and the backing board would be correx, made flush and also sealed with foil tape. Another method I liked, if deemed necessary was an enclosure - so- lay the "glass sandwich" on a sheet of marvelseal (cooking foil works but it's tricky on the glass edges/corners) and fold it on to DS tape on the front of the glass, trim excess.

I wonder if insects are attracted to the very tapes and their adhesives that are intended to keep them out, for both frame back sealing and glass sandwich sealing! I tried, on the best jobs, to keep as much organic material as possible off the menu. Gummed frame sealing tape is low quality paper and its adhesive is made from potato or maize starch - yummy!

What about floated items, two or tree dimensional - things with rebate spacers?

Is it possible that bad things could be sealed IN as well as out? (or at least made less easy to escape)

The main put-off for me though, was resistentialism "things are against us"!

The flumb!

There's nothing worse than sealing and finishing the back of a frame then flipping it over to find a flumb (or ten), unless you've sealed the glass too!

[Zac]

Thanks everyone, nice to know I'm not doing it wrong.

"The Flumb"... not a term I've come across before, but one that will undoubtedly enter my lexicon

I have read about The Little Black Flies on other threads, not a major problem in my neck of the woods, but clearly a consideration!

[JKX]

Much research has been done in to the flumb and there are many theories, there have also been poems written.


A terrible thing is a flumb,
Oh - a flumb is a terrible thing!
It makes you say words like "BUM!"
And unglue your glued-up-thing.
Then, just as your temper goes 'ping!'
You'll find that the flumb disappears,
So you glue up your un-glued-up thing...
And hey presto! - the flumb reappears!

(Mr E Rep)


The tiny flumb has a curious lot
It first shows up as an unwanted spot.

Explaining the flumb is a difficult task.
How it arrives is the question you ask.

They only appear when the frame is once fit,
It causes the framer his head to do hit.

Wormholes explain how they get under glass,
On other theories most people do pass,
Unless they cry out, "My big aching ***!"

(Bill Henry)



O Frame thou art sick.
The invisible flumb,
That hides on the bench
Beneath the measuring tape:

Has found out thy mat
Of pristine surface:
And his perfidious spottiness
Does thy aesthetics destroy.

(Prospero)

[prospero]

[Zac]