Humidity proof frame

Hanksj

Hanksj

Grumbler
Joined
May 25, 2024
Posts
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Bakersville, NC
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Yellow dog frames
Hey Grumble,
Just had a client ask for a humidity proof frame. My answer is that’s not a thing. The best I can do is frame the work (watercolor on paper) with archival materials and methods. Humidity concerns are going to be determined and mitigated from the environment where the frame lives.
What do yall think?
What is the museum standard for sealing frame packages?
Thanks!
 
Check with member JFeig about sealed enclosures.

Otherwise it's better to control the environment around the framed object than that within the frame.
 
Other than what Wally said, I think the best you can do is acrylic with a spacer backed with coroplast and sealed around the edges with mylar tape to make a kind of budget sealed container.
 
Acrylic isn't a true vapor barrier. Glass would work better in that example, but the weakness still remains in the taped edge seal.
As framers, the best we can do is a glass and marvelseal package, and even under ideal conditions that should be opened, inspected, and replaced on a regular basis.
The product JFeig makes is akin to the enclosures that the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are in.
 
For the purposes of picture framing, glass and metal are the only gas-impermeable barriers. Some plastics, such as acrylic glazing, Mylar, and Coroplast can slow the permeation, but can not stop it completely.

Hugh Phibbs developed a technique to build sealed frames using MarvelSeal, which is a foil/plastic sheeting material, and it actually makes a frame submersible. That works as long as the seals remain intact. Trouble is, there's no way to know if or when the seals fail.

The method described in this link isn't exactly Mr. Phibbs' method, but similar. P-90 tape is not best for this, because it is paper. I would use Lineco Frame Sealing Tape. You really don't need the humidity strip, because its window may be the most likely place for an air leak.:

These are useful links, too:

Chris Paschke - Sealed Frames in the Real World

Chris Paschke—framing industry mounting specialist—Article Archive and Research Library is a resource center for 20 years of articles by Chris A Paschke for the custom framing trade photographers and artists. Paschke article archive offers information about mounting, laminating, digitals, and...
www.designsinkart.com

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www.ppfacorner.com

Sealing the Back of a Frame

I have been following a discussion on the LinkedIn Conservation Picture Framing Group discussing how to seal the back of a frame in a conservation studio or high end gallery. I have been amazed at some of the comments. It seems that some of these businesses are using gaffers tape to seal the...
www.ppfacorner.com www.ppfacorner.com
 
Last edited:
Bruce Papier said:
Other than what Wally said, I think the best you can do is acrylic with a spacer backed with coroplast and sealed around the edges with mylar tape to make a kind of budget sealed container.
Click to expand...
 
There are only 2 impermeable barriers: Glass and Metal.

Acrylic is porous. Polypropylene (coroplast) is porous.

The better way would be to use Marvelseal as a backing and “seal” the package to glass with a metalized tape such as Lineco framing tape.

But be careful- you need to consider what you are sealing in as well as sealing out. Sometimes photochemical reactions can be exacerbated by an anaerobic environment.
 
Rob Markoff said:
There are only 2 impermeable barriers: Glass and Metal.

Acrylic is porous. Polypropylene (coroplast) is porous.

The better way would be to use Marvelseal as a backing and “seal” the package to glass with a metalized tape such as Lineco framing tape.

But be careful- you need to consider what you are sealing in as well as sealing out. Sometimes photochemical reactions can be exacerbated by an anaerobic environment.
Click to expand...
Hanksj said:
Hey Grumble,
Just had a client ask for a humidity proof frame. My answer is that’s not a thing. The best I can do is frame the work (watercolor on paper) with archival materials and methods. Humidity concerns are going to be determined and mitigated from the environment where the frame lives.
What do yall think?
What is the museum standard for sealing frame packages?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Rob Markoff said:
There are only 2 impermeable barriers: Glass and Metal.

Acrylic is porous. Polypropylene (coroplast) is porous.

The better way would be to use Marvelseal as a backing and “seal” the package to glass with a metalized tape such as Lineco framing tape.

But be careful- you need to consider what you are sealing in as well as sealing out. Sometimes photochemical reactions can be exacerbated by an anaerobic environment.
Click to expand...
Thank you, some great information here!
 
Agree there is danger in trapping humidity INSIDE the frame. A quick change in temperature could even fog up the inside of the glass, or worse, kick off mold growth.
 
bigshapes said:
Agree there is danger in trapping humidity INSIDE the frame. A quick change in temperature could even fog up the inside of the glass, or worse, kick off mold growth.
Click to expand...
Truly, I am a carpenter for my full time job and a lot of thought goes into how a house can dry and deal with humidity. Most new houses shoot for air tightness but not totally vapor impermeable. I was wondering if there was a similar idea in picture framing.
 
bigshapes said:
Agree there is danger in trapping humidity INSIDE the frame. A quick change in temperature could even fog up the inside of the glass, or worse, kick off mold growth.
Click to expand...
Yes, I forgot to mention that Hugh Phibbs' method includes pre-drying all hygroscopic materials in the frame package and fitting soon after, to avoid the incursion of moisture again. The drying may be accomplished in a heated mounting press.
 
Last I talked with Hugh about sealed frames included doubts about the practicality of the system for the purpose it was designed.

Items lent from the National Gallery were sealed in an Optium Museum acrylic lite and MarveSeal pouch all conditioned to a standard temperature and humidity. The problem arose in testing its efficacy, and it basically ended up with redoing the treatment on a regular basis, which pretty much defeated the purpose.
The challenge was being able to test the seal without violating it.
The fall-back was to stick with the more traditional step of regular inspections of the interior of the frame package.

Good did come of it when insurance companies started insisting that all art that traveled had to be glazed with a break-resistant panel (Optium Museum being the obvious choice) and that a panel providing a physical barrier be added to the back of the frame.
 
Hanksj, There are to basic concepts for sealed microclimate enclosures: Active vs passive.

A house or other building is an example of an active system where there are windows and doors as well as a HVAC system that open and allow for the exchange of the air that they contain. There are also a lack of a true hermetic seal to keep out the atmosphere from getting inside.

A passive system does not have the air exchange of an active system and rely on some sort of absorbent to remove the excess humidity from a hermetically sealed container. Think about a hermetically sealed glass jar with a lid that seals the contents from whatever is outside this container.
 
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