A lot of various tapes, a lot of applications. Here’s a guide to assist you when comparing tapes and adhesives for picture framing.
Adhesive Transfer Tapes
Adhesive transfer tapes are utilized primarily for sticking double mats together, connecting dust covers, gluing spacers and fillets in place, and installing art work to a backing board. They are identified by high initial tack (which indicates they grab rapidly) and a secure, lasting bond. They are applied by pressing the tape firmly against the surface and then peeling off the strip of release paper, called the “liner”, that backs the adhesive. When the liner is peeled away, the other side of the adhesive is exposed, so that a second product (be it a mat blank or dust cover) can be pressed against it and stick. Since both sides of the adhesive remain in play these tapes are frequently described as “double sided adhesive transfer tapes.”
ATG Tape
A type of adhesive transfer tape adhesive transfer tape where the adhesive is “reverse injury” indicating the adhesive is wound on the outside of the roll, making it cumbersome to work with manually but suitable for use in an adhesive transfer weapon where the tape is threaded around the roller at the nose of the weapon adhesive side out. The acronym A.T.G. means adhesive transfer weapon. To operate the ATG weapon you squeeze the trigger, launching the roller and then press the nose against the surface to be glued and pull back. The roller rolls out the double-sided adhesive, peeling up the liner as it goes, threading it back into the weapon. Tidy and simple. Learn more
Handheld Adhesive Transfer Tape
This tape is for those who choose to work with adhesive transfer tape manually. With this tape, the adhesive is “interior injury” which indicates the adhesive is turned to the within as it comes off the roll, making it less of a hassle to handle. Yet, for long term economy there is no real advantage to purchasing portable adhesive transfer tape except to avoid the one time expense of acquiring a tape applicator weapon, because ATG tape in fact costs a couple of cents less per backyard than portable adhesive transfer tape. Learn more
Acid Free ATG Tape
Acid free ATG tape provides an adhesive which contains no hazardous acids. Acid is the nemesis of art work. Offered adequate time, in direct sunlight and high humidity, it can trigger a hazy brown result called “acid burn” that can cheapen and ruin art work. However keep in mind, adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever utilized to install art work to a backing board because it produces a long-term bond by sticking the art work completely to the backing so that it can not be gotten rid of. The very act of taping art work completely to something devalues it. If adhesive transfer tape is utilized for this purpose it should just be utilized to install art work that is unlikely to increase in value, such as posters or quickly reproduceable photographic prints. Moreover, adhesive transfer tape can just be applied in long strips, which indicates the bond will not be consistent across the back of the product to be installed.
For long-term installing it’s more suitable to coat the product with adhesive, producing a consistent bond to avoid air pockets and creases. This is better done with self-adhesive foam board or PMA. So adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever utilized for installing art work, which can just result in the conclusion that it hardly ever contacts the art work, and given that the risk from acid burn takes place when the adhesive is in contact with the art work, the need for an ATG tape that is acid free is rather questionable. Still, if you wish to create a frame bundle that is entirely acid free, acid free ATG tape is the answer. Learn more
Installing and Hinging Tapes
Installing tapes are developed particularly for the purpose of installing art work to a mat or backing board. They are also utilized to connect the mat and the backing board together along the leading edge, what is called “hinging”, so that they stay lined up in the frame. Paper installing and hinging tapes are merely those where the tape itself is made from paper, instead of, say, linen or tissue, which have unique benefits.
Lineco Linen Hinging Tape
This tape is suited for installing heavy watercolor paper and large posters. It is chosen for its higher tensile strength as it will withstand tearing under the weight of the art work. Learn more
Lineco Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue
This tape is utilized on light-weight or translucent art work, such as rice paper. Where other kinds of tape can be seen through the paper, installing and hinging tissue is practically undetectable. Learn more
In application, installing and hinging tapes are generally in contact with the art work. Because of this, to be safe, the tapes should be pH neutral or acid free, but given that all installing and hinging tapes are, as a matter of course, pH neutral or acid free, it’s a little like looking for a vehicle with headlights. They all have that function, so we can take that as a given and proceed. The two primary qualities to try to find in a installing tape are ease-of-use and reversibility, and here one quality is frequently traded off against the other.
‘s Tape II
Finest when it pertains to ease-of-use, ‘s Tape II framers tape comes off the roll prepared to stick to no frustrating liner to have to peel away, but it is just reversible with heat. Reversibility is the capability to release the adhesive bond, making it unsticky so it can be peeled away from the art work without tearing it. If you have to put the installed art work in a heat press to reverse the bond, you can not effectively release it unless you have a heat press. Nevertheless, if the art work is relatively low-cost and you can not visualize the need to reverse the bond and you just want a quick, simple way to install it, Framers Tape II is a great choice. Learn more
Gummed Tape
Gummed tape is just the reverse of Framers Tape II in terms of its qualities. It is not awfully simple to work with but it reverses quickly. It’s a water triggered tape which indicates it will not become sticky till you dampen it, and in this way it’s very much like a postage stamp and shares a few of the very same disadvantages. A dampening bottle generally uses excessive or too little wetness, so you wind up licking it for best results. After you have actually licked installing tape for awhile, self-adhesive tapes that come off the roll prepared to stick have an obvious appeal. On the other hand, gummed tapes can be released quickly with water. Simply take the head of a Q-Tip, dip it in water, then work the head of the Q-Tip in under the tape and the adhesive will release quickly, letting the tape raise away and leaving no adhesive residue on the art. Learn more
AbacaSA Tape
This tape integrates the thinness of paper tapes, so it will not deboss through light-weight paper, and the strength of linen tape. It’s a self-adhesive tape made from the fibers of the Abaca plant which is similar to the thin fibers on the inside of a banana peel and are extremely strong. Learn more
For more on correct framing utilizing installing tapes, and what to avoid when applying them, take a look at Vadim Makarov’s short article How Not to Destroy Your Image By Improper Framing.
Other Tapes
Acid Free Stitchery Tape
This is a double sided tape with a release paper liner for the quick and simple installing of stitchery and needlework. It is applied to a installing board and the release paper is removed to expose the other side of the adhesive so that the needlework can be pressed against the adhesive and stuck down. Adhering needlework to tape is not the very best way to maintain it over the long term given that needlework benefits from air flow through its fibers, but for needlework that is unlikely to increase in value gradually, it’s a much faster and simpler method than extending and pinning the needlework to the substrate. Many expert advise using needlework tape to their clients when the clients balk at the high expense of extending and pinning, which is so lengthy to the framer. Well over half the needlework you see installed is installed with needlework tape. Learn more
Self-Adhesive Frame Sealing Tape
This is an aluminum backed tape utilized frame sealing tape to seal the inside of a wood frame’s rabbet to prevent acid migration. Acid can migrate from the wood into whatever the wood is in contact with, and given adequate time, can trigger acid burn because product. The stack of matboard, foamboard and glass that you place in the recess (the “rabbet”) at the back of the wood frame, contacts the wood along the edges and is therefore vulnerable to acid contamination. By using Frame Sealing Tape along the rabbet, an aluminum barrier is put in place to consist of acid migration and avoid the contents from falling victim to acid burn. Learn more
White Artist’s Tape & Acid Free Masking Tape
These are best utilized to seal the edges of the stack of matboard, foamboard and glass prior to putting them in the frame recess. When you place the stack in the recess and press downto insert points or brads, the pressing and launching of the stack can create a bellows result which can suction lint and dust into the frame area. By sealing the edges of the stack with white artists tape or acid free masking tape, you avoid particles from going into the frame area and avoid having to remove the contents to choose dust and lint from the inside of the glass. Learn more
Fixing Tissue & Document Repair Work Tape
These are utilized to repair tears in art on paper. The fixing tissue is applied to the face of the art, whereas the repair work tape is utilized on the back. Learn more
This is an summary of the offered tapes and adhesives you’ll discover at Framing4Yourself. Remember, nobody does more to keep you notified and lead you to the very best possible decisions by comparing items like tapes and adhesives in posts like these. At Framing4Yourself we’re your partner in framing.