dust and dry mounting

framanista

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Posts
202
Loc
Northeast US
Do you have any tips or tricks for keeping little specks of dust off of photos as you dry mount them?

How much luck do you have getting glossy photographs to come out of the press without little dents?
 
framanista,

It all starts with keeping your drymounting area clean. It normally is a less used area to begin with and dust accumulates more there than other areas which are cleaned more often.

Clean the top of your vacuum press. That is where I tack down my sheet adhesive and images and it needs to be clean as can be.

Next check your platen in your vacuum press. You can accumulate little bits of adhesive there that will put small dents in the surface of your images during drymounting.

Don't try to set a Guiness Book of World Records for using one sheet of release paper. Change your paper when it becomes creased from the edges of mounting boards or looks/feels dirty.

I brush down my tacked on images with an antistatic brush just before putting them into the press. That should remove any stray little fuzzies that may have found a home there.

Also check your pad over the bladder of your press. If that has any scraps of adhesive or dust on it, it may eventually transfer up to the platen and cause you problems when mounting.

One last note, if you have just finished chopping 6 or 7 frames, dust off your clothing before working with or handling anythin that will be going into the press. Sawdust will put a crater in the surface of a photo if even one little speck falls off your work clothes and lands on the image un-noticed.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Framerguy
 
In addition to what Framerguy said, I have begun to use Swiffers® to get the grit off of photos, posters, substates, etc. before I use a dusting brush.

The Swiffers seem to pick up and grab stuff that brushing alone doesn't seem to move. But those cleaning cloth gizmos tend to leave tiny fibers behind, so you have to follow up with a brush.
 
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