The myth of “acid free” lives on….
Let’s get some clarity here…
Many years ago the term “acid free” became widely used in picture framing(and art materials) to designate that a mat/art board was of good quality….
The problem was the the process of making a mat board “acid free” was not permanent and eventually this term has become fairly meaningless. Virtually all mat boards nowadays are technically” acid free” but not permanently. That’s the key.
Archival is the word. Archival is what stands the test of time.
Most paper products come from wood(plant) fibers and wood has an inherent component called lignin. Lignin is the glue that binds the molecules together. That is where the acidity comes from.
In order to make the lignin containing mat board “acid free”(mis nomer) certain chemicals are added to the pulp to neutralize the acidity….they don’t remove it however, it is just made ph neutral…for awhile. What happens is the neutralizing chemistry breaks down over time with exposure to light and air and guess what?..you end up with acidic mat boards all over again. You can see this in yellowing/brownish bevels on mats.
In our shop we use only archival matting boards.
What this means is that the board’s constituent materials never contained any acidity ie. cotton rag fiber based mat boards(best) or mat boards that have literally been purified from containing any lignin at all. These are referred to as either Alpha mats((lignin removed) or Rag mats or museum boards. All archival…no fading of colors or breaking down over time.
From a design point of view the matting provides two functions:
It creates a harmonious border or window around the piece being framed; great design will draw your eye into the artwork. There are myriad possibilities with this as mat boards come in so many colors, textures and several thicknesses.
Further, the matting provides a lift to keep the glazing from resting on the surface of the artwork which is very important. We never recommend placing the glass directly on any original artwork. Posters are one thing but not anything original or that is not replaceable.
Fabric wrapped matting One of the hallmarks of our shop is the use of fabrics in matting. We have literally hundreds of colors and various different types of fabric to choose from including silks, cottons, linens and polyesters. Many of these are subtle and smooth while others are very textural and decorative.
We hand wrap our custom fabric mats by hand onto the same archival mat boards, (usually white) for the best quality and most beautiful product.
We have many displays in our shop that feature hand wrapped fabric matting.
