In retrospect I should have probably seen this coming. We did our second show last weekend and as one would think it was hot and humid in Alabama in June. It was way hotter than normal but we are always warm this time of year. The humidity was high as well and it rained hard Saturday evening after the show shut down. Several of our framed pieces rippled or warped under the glass. They were mounted with Linco strips. I thought I had left plenty of room for expansion. I have not taken any of them apart yet to see what is going on under the dust covers. Anyone have any ideas on this problem?
Thanks, Craig Roderick
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I do mount to 16x20 and 20x24 mattboards with linen archival strips under 8 ply matts, and use a 300 gsm paper, and have not had any issues with humidity or rippling. Have a substantial backing board and clear bag it, or frame tighly.. works fine.. laminate to Dibond for larger pieces is the best way to go.
When we first started out I remember being at an art fair with high humidity and the glass getting fogged on our framed pieces. My husband, a perfectionist, was fit to be tied. So when we got home he started testing all the possible ways to prevent this. After all, we exhibit the work outdoors in the sun under humid conditions. There was no getting around that. That is what this business is.
He tested different kinds of framing, different mats, different mounting all in his "test kitchen" the back seat of the car with the windows closed sitting in the sun on hot summer days. His answer: cold mount all pieces that were to be framed, mounted to fome cor, and then tightly framed so that nothing could move in the frame and there was in essence a seal. The moisture wouldn't come through the plastic fome cor, and there was no room around the edges for it go get in either.
So as opposed to Jim Parker's solution (I know that works for him) there was no room for expansion. He had a whole series of photographs nudes, boudoir-ish, tubs, that were purchased for bathrooms. People would ask if they would be okay with the high humidity in their bathrooms and we could say, "you are standing here in 90 degree heat, the sun is beating down the humidity is 85% and there is no moisture.
Worked for us, Craig.
Connie,
Thanks for the tip. We are in the process of acquiring the materials we need to give it a try. We will let you know how it works out.
Craig
Thanks for the replies. Now that they pieces are back in the air conditioning they have started to return to their previous state. I am sure if they are re-exposed to humidity the same problem will occur. Our first course of action is to have one of our best images printed on canvas. Printing on canvas would address the immediate issue as well as our other concern which is packaging our framed pieces for transport. We spend a lot of time with bubble bags and corner protectors to prevent damage in transit. It adds a lot of time to set up and tear down, not to mention the weight of all of those pieces.
If we do not like the way our images look on canvas then we will go the dry mount route. None of our flip bin pieces which were mounted the same way had any problem. The bigger images (18 x 24) started warping first followed by the smaller (11x17) ones. Thanks so much for your insights on this issue. It is a relatively easy problem to address now. It would have been much worse farther down the road.
Craig
I am coming a bit late to this dicussion but there is another option that would survive in your hot humid weather. There is a process that mounts prints to a board, then coats them in a uv protected acrylic coating. You literally can take a hammer to these, my kid has drawn on one and it just wiped off. They never need glass so they travel well. Best of all, it is impervious to humidity and heat of the south. Now I don't know if they have it down where you live but , The Wooden Gallery in Traverse city is where I get mine done.
I have trouble with small prints, letter size, that are mounted loose (no front matte and a thin backer) in an inexpensive frame. Those don't hold up well at all in the humidity. Those are getting phased out in favor of selling them as bagged prints w/o matting and just a loose backer. My larger pieces, 13x19, are hinge mounted to the front matte from the back and those have no problem with humidity. I might mention that the paper I use is very thick, 11-12 mils thick, and has less rippling than lightweight papers. The larger pieces, 17x25 paper, will ripple in high humidity or sun regardless of heavier weight.
I've owned a frameshop in South Alabama for the last 25 years our 100% humidity is not kind to art. I'm also an artist. In extreme weather like you had I usually pack up just the art. With high humidty the paper can actually " Stretch" . Drymounting is to prevent not to fix and then It's not guaranteed but It might be worth it to try. Most likely you'll need to replace the photos. Hard to stomach I know. Good luck.
Putting plastic tarps on the ground overnight in high humidity will help sometimes. Also keeping a fan running in the booth overnight can aid in circulation. With very high humidity, there isn't a lot you can do.
Once the print expands, it needs to be replaced in the frame. Sometimes prints that have not had a chance to outgas properly will ripple more than prints that have dried for a while. There is no way to predict this behavior though. Some paper stock is worse than others. When mounting, fewer mounting points are better. Two at the top if using t-hinges. I will sometimes use two Lineco corners at the bottom of a large print to keep it from breaking free of the t-hinges at the top. The prints probably need 1/8" of play at the bottom if you do that.
I mount using linen tape t-hinges and get this occasionally. Bigger prints are more susceptible. To completely avoid the problem, you might want to dry mount, or print on canvas or metal.