AF Foamboard differences in quality and conservation

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cjmst3k

cjmst3k

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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Apr 25, 2006
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What is the difference between Bainbridge Artcare AF Foamboard, and the generic AF foamboards, with regards to hinging or photo-cornering the artwork to the board for framing, and long term conservation or effects? I've been using Bainbridge Artcare AF Foamboard for a decade on all pieces, but am wondering if they are all practically the same.

I know that Bainbridge has zeolite technology on their boards, but I'm wondering if that is a big difference, or if generic AF foamboard is basically just as good.

Thoughts?
 
...very interesting...
 
"Acid Free" is a loose term. "Acid Free" does not mean Archival.

This is similar to the "Acid Free" matboard scenario.

Being "Acid Free" on only one piece in the puzzle for satisfying all conservation requirements and criteria.

Also, just because something is deemed "acid free" at point of manufacture, doesn't necessarily mean it will remain so over time.

You can pump a paper product with CACO3 (Chalk) and give it an alkaline reading on day one - but that doesn't mean it will remain so, nor does it mean it that it has the harmful lignin removed from the fibres, which causes acid.

Artcare foamboard has non-lignin surface papers, and non-polystyrene core - which means no outgassing. Anything that outgasses cannot be considered geniune conservation quality.

Plus Artcare foamboard has the added protection of zeolite technology to neutralize harmful gasses.

You could contact NB for more info on this.

Cheers,

Jared
 
Here is one of the most affordable products that many would consider generic. Funny that it is the original product that's name is used like Kleenex Brand facial tissues. Read the description and decide for yourself. You will be able to find many who say it is not good enough for them while the Library of Congress finds it to be acceptable for their uses.

http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/acid-free/substrate/
 
Foam centered board

Boards made of plastic foam, with paper on either depend on the counter-tension of the paper for rigidity and can warp, if the paper on either side expands or contracts. They can not be expected to react to change in climate in the same way that paper boards will, and thus, for hinging or edge support mounting, 4 ply or thicker conservation quality boards are the best choice for back mats.



Hugh
 
Jeff Rodier said:
Here is one of the most affordable products that many would consider generic. Funny that it is the original product that's name is used like Kleenex Brand facial tissues. Read the description and decide for yourself. You will be able to find many who say it is not good enough for them while the Library of Congress finds it to be acceptable for their uses.

http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/acid-free/substrate/
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm parsing their words a bit too closely, but it looks like they may have chosen their words very carefully:

Fome-Cor® Acid Free is comprised of extruded polystyrene foam with acid-free paper facers that meet Library of Congress standards for conservation framing.

I read it as the face papers meeting LOC standards while saying nothing about the polystyrene foam.
 
No CFC's stamped in large letters all over the box to reassure you Dave. This is the original Monsanto product updated regularly over the decades to meet standards. The framing industry is too small for them to coddle up to with specialty marketing campaigns of reassurance. Spend some time looking at the products they offer and you will see they make many of the industry standards for conservation framing. They make the products that all the others copy.
 
Whatever the pros and cons of the specific board for preservation purposes, I'm pretty sure the "No CFCs" label has more to do with not harming the ozone layer.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
 
I just pulled this from the NB website about their Artcare Archival Foamboard, which I've used for a decade:


Artcare™ Archival Foamboard

GENERAL INFO - Artcare Archival Foamboard is a lightweight, rigid board, featuring alkaline pH liners of Artcare zeolite-bearing papers. The Artcare liners are available in either 100% alpha cellulose or 100% cotton, both in white, and in 100% alpha cellulose, in black. Artcare Archival foamboard provides unique protective adsorption of compounds off-gassed by polystyrene foam as well as adsorption of environmental contaminants.

PH VALUE - 8.5-9.5
APPLICATIONS -
Artwork mounting and backing
Shelf and drawer liners
Model fabrication



...so, am I to understand that all foamboard, including "Archival" foamboard, offgasses, and that the difference between Artcare AF Foamboard, and other brands is what kind of AF surface is on them, and how that difference may protect or not protect against the gasses?
 
Spend some time reading the product descriptions Rick as they specify what each is appropriate for use. Many of their products get sold by specialty companies under other labels to make them more important to specific groups. This is like the acrylic thread where Plaskolite is not good enough untill someone else puts their private label on it. Both companies make a huge array of products and if you choose the right one for the job you get what you hope for in it's purpose.

These companies all have technical data spec sheets which can be read by anyone. Often times framers pay twice as much for a product for life in order to have a third party read the data and stamp thier name on a product.

As Hugh has pointed out for truly important art Rag is the standard with no foam involved. Many even promote the use of polyflute behind the rag and surprisingly enough these guys make the product being suggested for added support behind the rag boards. Some may think Warren Buffet is making the products in his garage which meet our standards. I personally believe he pays somebody to read the tech data sheets and make the right choices.
 
cjmst3k said:
... with regards to hinging or photo-cornering the artwork to the board for framing, and long term conservation or effects? ... ?
Click to expand...

I think the basic assumption about mounting is bad no matter which foam board you might use. As noted by Hugh ...

preservator said:
Boards made of plastic foam, with paper on either depend on the counter-tension of the paper for rigidity and can warp, if the paper on either side expands or contracts. They can not be expected to react to change in climate in the same way that paper boards will, and thus, for hinging or edge support mounting, 4 ply or thicker conservation quality boards are the best choice for back mats.
Hugh
Click to expand...
 
cjmst3k said:
...so, am I to understand that all foamboard, including "Archival" foamboard, offgasses, and that the difference between Artcare AF Foamboard, and other brands is what kind of AF surface is on them, and how that difference may protect or not protect against the gasses?
Click to expand...

Paper surfaces and Zeolites are the variables. Many people offer the same papers but Artcare adds Zeolites. Now we come down to things like using buffered archival papers on certain photos. The variables are what makes a difference and better is not always better.

If all artwork were important enough we would only be using unbuffered 4 or 8 ply rag and aluminum composite sheets behind that. Now all we have to do is decide how much is enough and when and where we draw the line. Once we have done that we have to convince the customer that we are not trying to oversell in order to make larger profits.

Ain't framin' fun. :icon21:
 
cjmst3k said:
I just pulled this from the NB website about their Artcare Archival Foamboard, which I've used for a decade:


Artcare™ Archival Foamboard

GENERAL INFO - Artcare Archival Foamboard is a lightweight, rigid board, featuring alkaline pH liners of Artcare zeolite-bearing papers. The Artcare liners are available in either 100% alpha cellulose or 100% cotton, both in white, and in 100% alpha cellulose, in black. Artcare Archival foamboard provides unique protective adsorption of compounds off-gassed by polystyrene foam as well as adsorption of environmental contaminants.

PH VALUE - 8.5-9.5
APPLICATIONS -
Artwork mounting and backing
Shelf and drawer liners
Model fabrication



...so, am I to understand that all foamboard, including "Archival" foamboard, offgasses, and that the difference between Artcare AF Foamboard, and other brands is what kind of AF surface is on them, and how that difference may protect or not protect against the gasses?
Click to expand...

Thank you for starting this thread. I have called and e-mailed NB numerous times asking for more clarification regarding their boards. The person answering the phone has told me :"This is very small part of our business". Also, I was told they are allowed to give only one phone number for questions. They gave me Sue Losco's number and she never returned any of my calls. As I was not getting any call backs, I called the main number several more times. I was told she is the only one who knows more about the boards. Hard to believe, isn't it. Perhaps Ms. Losco will be in Vegas.
 
Jeff Rodier said:
Now all we have to do is decide how much is enough and when and where we draw the line. Once we have done that we have to convince the customer that we are not trying to oversell in order to make larger profits.

Ain't framin' fun. :icon21:
Click to expand...

Yes, but in order to do this we need more information.
 
cjmst3k said:
...Artcare™ Archival Foamboard

GENERAL INFO - Artcare Archival Foamboard is a lightweight, rigid board, featuring alkaline pH liners of Artcare zeolite-bearing papers. The Artcare liners are available in either 100% alpha cellulose or 100% cotton, both in white, and in 100% alpha cellulose, in black. Artcare Archival foamboard provides unique protective adsorption of compounds off-gassed by polystyrene foam as well as adsorption of environmental contaminants.

PH VALUE - 8.5-9.5
APPLICATIONS -
Artwork mounting and backing
Shelf and drawer liners
Model fabrication ...
Click to expand...

A clue, maybe, NB produces regular acid free foamcore as well as Artcare. :p
 
Pat Murphey said:
A clue, maybe, NB produces regular acid free foamcore as well as Artcare. :p
Click to expand...


...yup, and one is less expensive than the other. But, is there a real performance difference? Has there been any third-party tests of Bainbridge Artcare Foamboard, and Bainbridge AF Foamboard, and other AF foamboards?
 
Application...

As both Cliff Wilson and Hugh Phibbs have indicated, we are going to mount to either 4ply ragboard or thicker as backing boards in almost 99% of our conservation/preservation framing work, per the old PPFA Guidlelines for Framing Works of Art on Paper.

In our shop, we also swtiched over to Coroplast as our default "Filler" board in conservation / presevation framing. (Although I would have no problem using a proactive product like NB Artcare Foamboard for this purpose and have done so in the past.)

This leaves foam center board's primary role in our shop as the filler board for decorative framing jobs. Used with posters, prints and photographs.

John
 
John Ranes II said:
... we are going to mount to either 4ply ragboard or thicker as backing boards ...
Click to expand...

preservator said:
... for hinging or edge support mounting, 4 ply or thicker conservation quality boards are the best choice for back mats./QUOTE]

I think John's reference to "RAG" is at least the second one in this thread.

Please note that Hugh said "Conservation quality" which means you can use "less expensive" "4-ply" alternatives.

If you go to one of your suppliers and say "I will buy a box of 25 (pick a lowcost CQ matboard number) at least every 3 weeks. What can you give me for a price on that board?" I think you might be able able to "do it right" and still hit your margin goals. Maybe even for "decorative" framing.
Click to expand...
 
When I toured the Peterboro plant last month, I saw the "rejects" aka flaw board that came off the line. Some of these boards had a speck the size of a pinhead but were otherwise perfect in every way. Certainly for a backing board to hinge to, they would be perfect and can be had for a very reasonable price. I imagine that other vendors/manufacturers that would have the same.
 
It's very difficult to get archival flawboard in the Northeast. When NB was in NJ I used to be able to pick up (yup really heavy!) and purchase 1/2 a pallet. I've tried LJ, DM, MM....rarely getting any. Maybe I need to drive to Peterboro?
Susan
 
AF Foamboard

Okay, what about Mighty Core and GatorBoard, in terms of off-gassing? We use them as backing for needlework. While the fabrics don't actually touch the backing because we use polyester batting, we use the aforementioned because it is so stiff and will hold pins in the edges. Even if I read the specs I don't know if I will still understand what they say.
 
The more rigid boards use different chemical compounds for the core. If you click on this link you will see the header of Applications. This page shows "Framing-Archival" but as you click on other types of board you will see Archival is missing from the descriptions under framing.

http://www.graphicdisplayusa.com/acid-free/substrate/
 
Gator

The stiff facing paper on gator type boards is reinforced with urea formaldehyde, which means that it can only be used in a perservation setting if it has been sealed with a barrier foil material.



Hugh
 
I remember reading somewhere that Gator surface layer has wood fibers in it. Should we be concerned with lignin migration?

Seeing how Artcare is not 100% archival due to off gassing why even bother with it since it's more expensive then AF Foamboard? Why not just use AF foamboard for framing that is suitable for it, and when conservation framing is required use Rag boards? One less type of Foamboard to stock.
 
Conservation foam boards do not have the off gassing issues that the gator or hard boards pose. Conservation foam boards are formulated to prevent damage to artwork but for truly important pieces of art we should be using alpha or rag.

A combination of rag board and a rigid filler such as polyflute easily costs 5 times what I pay for conservation foam core. Considering that mark up is based on material costs this is not an easy sell for more run of the mill pieces.
 
So I just want to clarify this in my own words.

Is AF foam pointless? Since its not conservation standard for good art, is it worth using as backing for "any art"?

Or is regular foam good enough for "any art" if the people don't care, and AF is just a waste of money?
 
The surface paper is the same as alpha mat and also available in rag which is conservation quality. The foam is not an issue in major brands. Hugh has pointed out that it may warp but we see that with nearly all backings.

Standard foam board is clay coat paper which is exactly what many posters and prints are printed on but better quality prints use higher quality clay coat paper. So yes it is fine to use but say a customer brings in a Leroy Neiman serigraph which does have signifcant value that would be a good time to use 4 ply rag.
 
Puppiesonacid said:
So I just want to clarify this in my own words.

Is AF foam pointless? Since its not conservation standard for good art, is it worth using as backing for "any art"?

Or is regular foam good enough for "any art" if the people don't care, and AF is just a waste of money?
Click to expand...

When you ask the question and say, "using as backing"

....do you mean used as mounting board or used as filler material?
 
Let me ask the question:

Is the any evidence that what is designated as acid free foam board damages art!!!

Most of the responders seem to suggest that it could, the operative word here been “could” however I would like to know if there is any documented evidence that in fact it does cause damage.
 
I mean as backing board for the picture. the picture touching it and laying on it with the mats on top of the picture and glass on top of that.

not filler board.
 
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