Question Gummed Tape

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tommot

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Im definitely going over old ground here but I couldn't find much by searching.

I'm mostly using both paper and linen water activated gummed tapes for hinging. I'm having really inconsistent results at the moment and trying to figure out what's the best process.

The paper tape seems to work best when I lightly brush water on it, leave it for 30 seconds or so and then brush it again with a damp brush.

The linen tape only works when I lick it and use it straight away! I don't know if it's the warmth or what, but that's what gets it to stick. Anything else I've tried it comes right off.

I'm not crazy about ingesting glue all day, or introducing my personal microbiome into someone's artwork...

Is there a reliable method of getting these tapes to stick every time? I have both Lineco and an unbranded one from Larson Juhl.

I would like to use wheat paste, but don't have anything to heat it with set up yet.
 
tommot said:
I would like to use wheat paste, but don't have anything to heat it with set up yet.
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Do a Grumble search on Klucel-G. It does not require cooking, and is soluble in water or alcohol. Using 99% isopropyl alcohol (or 91% if that's all you can find) makes a gel which can be applied to the hinging tissue with a cotton swab. It evaporates more quickly than a water-based paste, so is less apt to cause cockling. Klucel-G has a pretty long shelf life, so a batch will last quite a while if kept in a small sealed jar. I make it about a tablespoon to a batch.
It's best to avoid using Klucel-G hinges on a print where it would be directly under the image's inked area unless you know the particular ink used isn't sensitive to alcohol. As always, practice any new materials and processes on non-valuable items until you are confident in the results before using it on a customer's art.
:cool: Rick
 
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Rick is right. Learn Klucel-G and you won't go back. I'll add you can't use it on anything that has been heat printed (like tickets or cash register receipts). Don't ask me how I know that. The memory is too painful.
 
Ylva said:
Linen tape is not to be used for hinging. It is too strong.
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Really? My first, very old school, employer used to always use it on heavier paper pieces.

Is it that the adhesive is less reversible, or the carrier too strong?
 
Bruce Papier said:
Rick is right. Learn Klucel-G and you won't go back. I'll add you can't use it on anything that has been heat printed (like tickets or cash register receipts). Don't ask me how I know that. The memory is too painful.
Click to expand...

Well thanks for making that mistake so I don't have to!
 
tommot said:
Really? My first, very old school, employer used to always use it on heavier paper pieces.

Is it that the adhesive is less reversible, or the carrier too strong?
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A hinge is meant to fail on possible impact. So it should be weaker than the paper the art is on, so the art would not rip.

Now in 'real life' I don't think any of us have ever seen that happen, but why risk it?-
 
I've seen it happen, Ylva. We hinged a large, expensive work on paper years ago which the customer dropped while trying to hang it. The frame was ruined, but the art was saved because the hinges broke to absorb the shock. The artwork may have been fine if we had used heavier hinges, but maybe not.
 
I misunderstood what you were saying. I've seen prints where the hinges tore paper fibers off the back of prints on heavy paper when the prints were in a frame that dropped, but I've never seen a case where the paper tore all the way through.
 
I think you'd have to do something pretty dramatic to get it to tear the paper.

I get the theory though and as Ylva said, why risk it.

It's mad what you see when you open up old frames though. I reframed a drawing the other day that had been hanging by one millimetre of one piece of sellotape for the last thirty years.

People use all sorts here (Ireland) and it's not straightforward to get good stuff sometimes. Most stuff comes through the UK and Brexit has made that into a massive pain.
 
The starch gum on fabric tape is vegetable based and penetrates the fiber of the item being attached to a greater degree than the rice or wheat based starch. Those tend to be a more superficial bond.
This will result in more material lost from the back of a print if the hinge is torn off, and any residual paste is very difficult to remove.

There are also some reports of Klucel G being too aggressive. Its original use was for consolidating aged leather and there are some questioning it being appropriate for hinging paper. The jury is still out.

I’m sticking (pun intended) with wheat starch or methyl cellulose for fine art on paper if I can’t use a passive method like platform mounts.
 
In defense of Klucel-G- I think it could be too aggressive if the alcohol to powder ratio is too low. I used a much thinner concentration (7-1) and it seemed about right.
 
wpfay said:
The starch gum on fabric tape is vegetable based and penetrates the fiber of the item being attached to a greater degree than the rice or wheat based starch.
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Is the gum on paper tape, like the Lineco stuff, the same?

I'm definitely curious about Klucel-G because I'm very limited on space, so not having to cook paste would be a good. Plus it has a cool sci-fi name...

But honestly I think I'll do both, have only opened here a few weeks ago and it's been busier than I expected so I haven't gotten around to building out the workshop properly yet.
 
Look into Methyl Cellulose as well. It is a no-cook option that is inorganic and works much like the Nori (rice starch/wheat starch) pastes but is inedible.
I live in a semi-tropical coastal zone with an abundance of bugs that are looking for food, so the Methyl Cellulose is a good option in less that optimal environments.
It also has a farily long shelf life unlike the organic options.
 
You can cook both wheat and rice starch in a microwave. You probably can fit one of those in your shop. Just get a small one if it's really a cramped space.
 
You just need a small microwave safe container. Mix the starch and water in the recommended proportion, zap for 20 - 30 seconds, stir, and zap for maybe another 20 seconds or until the paste is clear and thick, but not a gel.
 
wpfay said:
Look into Methyl Cellulose as well. It is a no-cook option that is inorganic and works much like the Nori (rice starch/wheat starch) pastes but is inedible.
I live in a semi-tropical coastal zone with an abundance of bugs that are looking for food, so the Methyl Cellulose is a good option in less that optimal environments.
It also has a farily long shelf life unlike the organic options.
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When I took Hugh Phibbs's class on Klucel-G, those were the advantages he mentioned also, with the addition of minimizing cockling by not introducing water into the paper.
I tried Methyl Cellulose years ago, but found that the bond was less reliable than starch paste. Maybe I was doing something wrong? Anyway, I know that certain cautions are necessary when using Klucel-G, but I have found it to be very effective and straightforward to use.
:cool: Rick

Is the gum on paper tape, like the Lineco stuff, the same?
I don't know what Lineco uses, but the Heritage Tape from TALAS uses potato starch (or so I have read).
 
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