Many different tapes, many 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, attaching dust covers, gluing spacers and fillets in place, and mounting art work to a support board. They are characterized by high preliminary tack (which implies they get quickly) and a safe and secure, lasting bond. They are used by pushing the tape strongly versus the surface and after that peeling 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 item (be it a mat blank or dust cover) can be pressed versus it and stick. Since both sides of the adhesive are in play these tapes are frequently referred to as “double sided adhesive transfer tapes.”
ATG Tape
A kind of adhesive transfer tape - where the adhesive is “reverse injury” meaning the adhesive is wound on the outside of the roll, making it cumbersome to deal with manually but suitable for usage 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 run the ATG weapon you squeeze the trigger, releasing the roller and after that push the nose versus the surface to be glued and draw back. The roller presents the double-sided adhesive, peeling up the liner as it goes, threading it back into the weapon. Tidy and simple. Read more
Handheld Adhesive Transfer Tape
This tape is for those who prefer to deal with adhesive transfer tape manually. With this tape, the adhesive is “interior injury” which implies the adhesive is turned to the inside as it comes off the roll, making it less of a hassle to deal with. Yet, for long term economy there is no real advantage to buying portable adhesive transfer tape except to avoid the one time cost of buying a tape applicator weapon, because ATG tape in fact costs a couple of cents less per lawn than portable adhesive transfer tape. Read more
Acid Free ATG Tape
Acid free ATG tape offers an adhesive that contains no harmful acids. Acid is the nemesis of art work. Given sufficient time, in direct sunlight and high humidity, it can trigger a hazy brown effect called “acid burn” that can decrease the value of and mess up art work. However remember, adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever utilized to install art work to a support board because it produces a irreversible bond by sticking the art work completely to the support so that it can not be removed. The very act of taping art work completely to something cheapens it. If adhesive transfer tape is utilized for this purpose it should only be utilized to install art work that is not likely to increase in worth, such as posters or easily reproduceable photographic prints. Additionally, adhesive transfer tape can only be used in long strips, which implies the bond will not be uniform throughout the back of the item to be mounted.
For irreversible mounting it’s more suitable to coat the item with adhesive, creating a uniform bond to avoid air pockets and creases. This is much better finished with self-adhesive foam board or PMA. So adhesive transfer tape is hardly ever utilized for mounting art work, which can only cause the conclusion that it hardly ever contacts the art work, and because the risk from acid burn takes place when the adhesive is in contact with the art work, the requirement for an ATG tape that is acid free is rather questionable. Still, if you want to develop a frame bundle that is totally acid free, acid free ATG tape is the answer. Read more
Mounting and Hinging Tapes
Mounting tapes are developed specifically for the purpose of mounting art work to a mat or support board. They are likewise utilized to connect the mat and the support board together along the leading edge, what is called “hinging”, so that they remain lined up in the frame. Paper mounting and hinging tapes are merely those where the tape itself is made from paper, instead of, state, linen or tissue, which have unique benefits.
Lineco Linen Hinging Tape
This tape is suited for mounting heavy watercolor paper and large posters. It is preferred for its higher tensile strength as it will resist tearing under the weight of the art work. Read more
Lineco Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue
This tape is used on light-weight or translucent art work, such as rice paper. Where other types of tape can be translucented the paper, mounting and hinging tissue is essentially unnoticeable. Read more
In application, mounting and hinging tapes are typically in contact with the art work. Because of this, to be safe, the tapes need to be pH neutral or acid free, but because all mounting and hinging tapes are, as a matter of course, pH neutral or acid free, it’s a little like looking for a automobile with headlights. They all have that function, so we can take that as a provided and carry on. The two main qualities to try to find in a mounting tape are ease-of-use and reversibility, and here one quality is frequently compromised versus the other.
Framer’s Tape II
Finest when it pertains to ease-of-use, Framer’s Tape II - comes off the roll ready to stick to no irritating liner to have to peel away, but it is only reversible with heat. Reversibility is the ability to release the adhesive bond, making it unsticky so it can be peeled far from the art work without tearing it. If you have to put the mounted art work in a heat press to reverse the bond, you can not successfully release it unless you have a heat press. Nevertheless, if the art work is relatively inexpensive and you can not anticipate the requirement to reverse the bond and you just want a fast, easy way to install it, Framers Tape II is a great choice. Read more
Gummed Tape
Gummed tape is just the opposite of Framers Tape II in terms of its qualities. It is not extremely easy to deal with but it reverses easily. It’s a water triggered tape which implies it will not end up being sticky till you dampen it, and in this way it’s quite like a postage stamp and shares some of the same downsides. A moistening bottle typically applies too much or too little wetness, so you wind up licking it for finest results. After you have licked mounting tape for awhile, self-adhesive tapes that come off the roll ready to stick have an apparent appeal. On the other hand, gummed tapes can be released easily 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 easily, letting the tape lift away and leaving no adhesive residue on the art. Read 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 resembles the thin fibers on the inside of a banana peel and are extremely strong. Read more
For more on proper framing utilizing mounting tapes, and what to avoid when applying them, check out Vadim Makarov’s short article How Not to Ruin 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 easy mounting of stitchery and needlework. It is applied to a mounting board and the release paper is removed to expose the other side of the adhesive so that the needlework can be pressed versus the adhesive and stuck down. Adhering needlework to tape is not the very best way to maintain it over the long term because needlework take advantage of air blood circulation through its fibers, but for needlework that is not likely to increase in worth gradually, it’s a much faster and much easier method than extending and pinning the needlework to the substrate. Numerous professional framers suggest making use of needlework tape to their customers when the customers balk at the high cost of extending and pinning, which is so time-consuming to the framer. Well over half the needlework you see mounted is mounted with needlework tape. Read more
Self-Adhesive Frame Sealing Tape
This is an aluminum backed tape utilized - to seal the inside of a wood frame’s rabbet to prevent acid migration. Acid can move from the wood into whatever the wood is in contact with, and provided sufficient time, can trigger acid burn because material. 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 for that reason susceptible to acid contamination. By utilizing Frame Sealing Tape along the rabbet, an aluminum barrier is put in place to contain acid migration and avoid the contents from coming down with acid burn. Read 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 positioning them in the frame recess. When you place the stack in the recess and press downto insert points or brads, the pressing and releasing of the stack can develop a bellows effect 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 entering the frame area and avoid having to remove the contents to choose dust and lint from the inside of the glass. Read more
Healing Tissue & Document Repair Work Tape
These are utilized to repair tears in art on paper. The mending tissue is applied to the face of the art, whereas the repair tape is utilized on the back. Read more
This is an summary of the offered tapes and adhesives you’ll find at Framing4Yourself. Keep in mind, no one does more to keep you informed and lead you to the very best possible decisions by comparing products like tapes and adhesives in articles like these. At Framing4Yourself we’re your partner in framing.