Frank's Fabric Adhesive Instead of Wheat Paste??

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Mary M

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
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This is just a general query...what is the general feeling about using Frank's Fabric Adhesive instead of rice/wheat paste when making paper hinges? The adhesive seems to be generally regarded as being archival-so what kind of drawbacks would show up if you used it in conservation packages?
 
Apart from the issue of reversability, from a maximum conservation perspective I would imagine that plasticizers in PVA would pose a level of threat. Perhaps Hugh will give professional insight.
 
Frank's Fabric adhesive is a PVA based adhesive. As such I would never use that type of adhesive for the archival mounting of paper art or any other similar item.
 
When you're talking about preservation hinging, or framing in general, the simpler the better. Starch and water are pretty basic, with no chemicals, preservatives, plasticizers or other things to worry about.

To quote some commercial or another, it's unfooled-around with.
 
Since we are on this topic, what about Vacuglue 300 from Bienfang? Isnt this a starch-based adhesive?

Just thinking.....
 
Robert Kellum said:
Since we are on this topic, what about Vacuglue 300 from Bienfang? Isnt this a starch-based adhesive?

Just thinking.....
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I'm not that familiar with it, so this is just an educated guess. It comes in a fairly large container and it sits around for a while before it's all used up. Which means that if it's starch and water, there has to be some preservative in it to keep it from getting moldy and nasty. What is the preservative? What affect might it have on the artwork?

Again, the less "stuff" in it the better.

Paste is really not that much of a hassle to mix up. One part starch powder to five parts water. Put in a container and stir. Microwave for ten seconds, stir. Repeat, should take about 40 seconds or so of cooking time.
 
OK, now that the "Preservation of all things" crowd have had their go.. I'll have mine.

There are many [and I do mean many] things that I would rather hinge than mount. Old photos for one. . .

So I make up some sheets that have a strip of Frank's Heat Reactive Fabric Adhesive painted along the one edge, or along the transverse two edges. Then I let them dry.
When I want some quick hinges.... and don't want to wait out the "blot" drying time, I simply tack iron down the pre-made hinges to the back of the "artwork" and tack the other down to the backer, and immediately go ahead and finish fitting.

Of course there is that long 20 second heating time of the tack iron.

I have used this on several things that ANY kind of liquid would have caused problems, and where encapsulation or edge pressure tabs were not an option.

I covered this method, w/artwork, in one of the summer issues of the Guild newsletter in 1988, if you have that old issue.
 
Baer Charlton said:
OK, now that the "Preservation of all things" crowd have had their go.. I'll have mine.
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Since Mary did ask about it as an alternative to rice/wheat starch paste for hinging, I made the assumption that she was asking about it from a preservation standpoint.
 
FramerDave said:
Since Mary did ask about it as an alternative to rice/wheat starch paste for hinging, I made the assumption that she was asking about it from a preservation standpoint.
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That's exactly right ... she asked "what kind of drawbacks would show up if you used it in conservation packages?"
 
Vacuglue 300

According to Bienfang / Elmers, Vacuglue 300 is "pure vegetable starch." It is preserved with sodium nitrate, NO other chemicals are added. It is considdered non-toxic, PH neutral (7.0) and reverseable.

I agree that cooking starch is NOT a big deal, but there are sure times that I would rather NOT have to do it. And since Nori no longer exists, it would be nice to have another time-saver that I already have on hand.

So I will ask again, could it be used for hinging in place of wheat / rice starch? (I have not yet tried it, but it is tempting....)
 
Robert Kellum said:
According to Bienfang / Elmers, Vacuglue 300 is "pure vegetable starch." It is preserved with sodium nitrate, NO other chemicals are added. It is considdered non-toxic, PH neutral (7.0) and reverseable.
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There's their opt out clause.

But to answer the question 'could it be used in place of wheatstarch paste' - well, it would obvously be a downgrade because it has preservative and why downgrade on artwork that is good enough for the best?
 
The advantages of starch paste come from the fact that it, like paper, is pure cellulose and has been used for hundreds of years. Commercial products contain unknown ingredients, many of which may be trade secrets, any of which may have adverse effects. Starch can be cooked in the microwave, sealed in air-tight packages, and used with desiccated blotters, all which makes starch paste hinging simple and safe.



Hugh
 
preservator said:
Starch can be cooked in the microwave, sealed in air-tight packages, and used with desiccated blotters, all which makes starch paste hinging simple and safe.
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Hugh (& others), Everytime I've tried to seal cooked starch in an air-tight package, it thickens and becomes too thick to reuse in less than an hour. In fact, it's usually too thick to use by the time I'm ready to put the crosspiece across the dried tab. Why didn't Nori thicken after it was opened? Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? How long are you able to keep it for reuse?
 
Jim, you might be overcooking the starch, or don't have the balance of dry starch:water right.

My flogging of the expired equine...Much like Baer's use of fabric glue I prepare Japanese paper hinges using Lascaux 360 for use on items of great fragility, those overly reactive to water (vellum, parchment), or those that are non porous (RC photos, Mylar, Polaroids...). The technique is the same as described by Baer. The Lascaux will often create a bond with burnishing and can be gently heated (140 Degrees F...low tacking iron) for a stronger bond. Reversible for the most part with the same gentle heat or Xylene.

The hinges are made in strips and cut or torn to size as needed. The Lascaux has an indefinite shelf life once cured, and the strips are easily stored by rolling them up with a strip of clear film acting as a mask.

Not for all applications but a functional substitute in the aforementioned cases.
 
Starch paste thickens as it cools. Water can be added to paste that is quite thick and solid. In some labs, paste is cooked to the point at which it forms a solid ball and part of that is strained and water added to get the proper consistency = creamy. All paste should be straine and have water added, just before use.



Hugh
 
This has been an interesting discussion. It's cleared up some confusion, for me at least. It seems there are different levels of the term "archival". While materials that go into a conservation package should all be archival in the sense that their properties do not change, and they do not create change, over a period of time--the level of purity can vary according to the application. Anything applied to the artwork should be as pure as possible, i.e. wheat/rice starch paste. Materials used in the package, however, can have other ingredients in their chemical makeups and still retain their archival characteristics. In other words, it's rice/wheat paste only for conservation hinging, but the Fabric Adhesive is great for the fabric mats.

On the other hand, I like to use hinges on a lot of different artwork-they're better (safer and cheaper) than mounting corners or paper tape. It's nice to know they can be made ahead of time. I haven't used the Lascaux 360 yet, but the Fabric Adhesive is on the benchtop all the time. What a time saver and a great tip. I learn something new and valuable everytime I visit the Grumble. Thanks!
 
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