Acid Free mat boards

frankbmr

Grumbler in Training
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Elmont,NY
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Photographer/Artist
Hi,
I just would like to know if anyone has ever used the Essence acid free mat boards and what do you think about them.
Thank you.
Francesco
 
Welcome Francesco,
I was not familiar with the brand name of boards. I did find them on the United website. They are the highest grade of mat board, being 100% cotton boards, and most of us call them "rag" or museum grade boards as the standards for this product was established by the Library of Congress.
 
Welcome Francesco,
I was not familiar with the brand name of boards. I did find them on the United website. They are the highest grade of mat board, being 100% cotton boards, and most of us call them "rag" or museum grade boards as the standards for this product was established by the Library of Congress.
Thank you so much for your feedback.
 
I think people (framers and customers) tend to agonise maybe a tad too much about "Acid-free" and all
that stuff. The fact is that the matboard of today is on a different planet to the carp of yesteryear.
I get customers asking if I use Acid-free matboard. The phrase has no meaning at the end of the day, the same
as "Archival" "Conservation" and "Museum". Advertising buzz-words. But I get the impression from some customers
that matboard with a "conservation" or whatever tag will actively serve to keep their art pristine. It won't. It will do less
damage (potentially), but will not preserve it. Alas, if the art itself is loaded with nasties no amount of "Museum" grade
materials will save it. Something that they don't consider.

OK, if you are framing a Rembrandt then there is no excuse for not using the best. But for most of the art that passes
through our hands modern matboards of any description are likely to be quite good enough.

I've seen watercolors from Victorian times matted with the old board of the period - with dark brown bevels that had
not affected the paintings one bit. I've also seen a lot that is has. The key thing is the materials the artist used were
selected with thought and prepared correctly. All art is not created equal. 😉

* A glaring example of this misconception was a print I had to frame that had a sticky label on the back with
[This Label is Acid Free]
on it.
What's wrong with this picture? 🤣
 
I think people (framers and customers) tend to agonise maybe a tad too much about "Acid-free" and all
that stuff. The fact is that the matboard of today is on a different planet to the carp of yesteryear.
I get customers asking if I use Acid-free matboard. The phrase has no meaning at the end of the day, the same
as "Archival" "Conservation" and "Museum". Advertising buzz-words. But I get the impression from some customers
that matboard with a "conservation" or whatever tag will actively serve to keep their art pristine. It won't. It will do less
damage (potentially), but will not preserve it. Alas, if the art itself is loaded with nasties no amount of "Museum" grade
materials will save it. Something that they don't consider.

OK, if you are framing a Rembrandt then there is no excuse for not using the best. But for most of the art that passes
through our hands modern matboards of any description are likely to be quite good enough.

I've seen watercolors from Victorian times matted with the old board of the period - with dark brown bevels that had
not affected the paintings one bit. I've also seen a lot that is has. The key thing is the materials the artist used were
selected with thought and prepared correctly. All art is not created equal. 😉

* A glaring example of this misconception was a print I had to frame that had a sticky label on the back with
[This Label is Acid Free]
on it.
What's wrong with this picture? 🤣
That is also true, indeed.
 
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