Question Museum Glass

Create a Post
M

Msqrd

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Posts
5
Loc
Edwards AFB, California
I had a customer bring me a frame for a repair quote. They had purchased the frame at a show and had been told it had all conservation materials and museum glass. Upon opening the frame it looked like plain clear washed glass to me. Wanted to check before I inform the customer that they were had, clear washed (reg glass is green from teh side view, conservation glass is brown and museum is a blue and brown depending on angle of view, correct?
 
Well, you probably don't need to open up the frame to tell if it has museum glass. If, when looking at the picture, you see a definite clear reflection of yourself, then it's not museum glass. To tell if it's regular clear or conservation clear glass, you can do the black light test. Take a sheet of paper from your printer and put it under the glass and shine a black light on it. If it shines back bright, it's regular glass. If it looks dark, then it's UV filtering glass.
 
I can see the diffrence by looking at the glass at an angle. Premium clear is totally flat very reflective and greenish tint. CC has a slight ripple effect, and museum has a purplish tint when seen at an angle. And your right if you take it out of the frame and look at the side clear is green, cc clear is orange/brown and museum is green to dark orange.
 
A scratch with razor blade can tell you if it has a UV coating.

If you are unsure if its museum glass, just catch a reflection of a light bulb in it and compare with a regular pane of glass - the museum shows up bluish

-Bryan
 
Would that be same for every mfg. (colors of the coatings)? I know most of us use TruVue, but I assume not all glass has the same coating? Or even a coating at all?

I guess reflection would tell the tale?

If it's really plain glass; good luck telling the customer. Bring it gently so they won't feel too foolish. Make sure to tell them that they had no way of knowing, as you cannot tell by just looking at it (not completely true of course) and that you feel bad being the messenger.
If you were going to replace the glass anyway (this time with Museum), I'm not sure if you would have to bring it up? Not sure what the 'repair' quote is for.
 
Beware! When the customer comes back in and says, "hey, it had Museum Glass on when I brought it in.....what did you do with my glass....." !!!
 
The anti-reflective quality of Museum Glass is obvious at a glance, no need to disassemble the frame to determine that.

All Tru Vue conservation glass products have the same "True Guard" UV blocking coating on the inside, which has a slightly rippled appearance if you catch a reflection just right. You can also tell which side it's on by making a small scratch in a corner with the tip of a blade.

Edge color is no longer a good way to determine the kind of glass. Tru Vue began switching their conservation products to low-iron glass some time ago. As I recall, that transition was supposed to take a couple of years. There's no way to know how long your glass has been in your distributor's warehouse. So you could have Conservation Clear with or without the green tint or brown tint.
 
There were (are?) other manufacturer's glass available that are UV filtered but have other "artifacts" than the orange peel look that comes form the roller technique TruVue uses.

Gardian had (has?) a spray version and Denglas used to sell a dipped version. The Denglas UV product does not scratch like the TV does!

The Denglas product was very nice, but not anti-relfective as the Museum is. As far as I know the TV Museum is the only UV filtered, optically coated glass. (Aside from the M's "Masterpiece" which is just a rebranding)

Each of the manufacturer's had different lead and/or iron content which would change the edge color.

Bottom line, the reflection properties can tell you if it's Museum or not, but only a black light will actually tell you if it's got a UV filter or not.
 
Cliff Wilson said:
The Denglas product was very nice, but not anti-relfective as the Museum is. As far as I know the TV Museum is the only UV filtered, optically coated glass. (Aside from the M's "Masterpiece" which is just a rebranding).
Click to expand...

We have this stuff available from Nielsen (UK) and one other supplier who says it's the same stuff as Nielsen's but Neilsen claim it is exclusive.

It's waterwhite but the price you pay for no ripple or color shift is less UV protection (90% in the critical range)
 
Museum Glass - new sizes!

I just received an email from TruVue that their Museum glass is now offered in three new sizes: 20x24, 22x28 and 24x30. I don't know about the rest of you, but I use the latter two sizes a lot so this is good new for me! Thank you, TruVue!
 
I heard a rumor (from a source I was asked not to credit) that "the Germans" were going to start bringing glass into the US. Maybe this is the product they were talking about?

I use a lot of TV product. Always have. But, the quality has been suspect lately and it would be nice to have some competition again. Maybe we'd see some attention to quality and some price pressure.
 
TopHat said:
I just received an email from TruVue that their Museum glass is now offered in three new sizes: 20x24, 22x28 and 24x30. I don't know about the rest of you, but I use the latter two sizes a lot so this is good new for me! Thank you, TruVue!
Click to expand...

That is nice! Hopefully the smaller sizes mean there is an extra lite or two per box, also! I had a boss once who only stocked premium glass in 32 x 40 so he would buy fewer boxes, but on AR and MG, it makes a lot of sense to carry the smaller sized too.
 
Cliff Wilson said:
I heard a rumor (from a source I was asked not to credit) that "the Germans" were going to start bringing glass into the US. Maybe this is the product they were talking about?

.
Click to expand...

If it's the people in Framing:'s link (Flabeg) then it could be that and more. There is talk of a glass with no ripple or any more color shift than normal glass, with UV protection to match CC.

Believe it when I see it though (or when I don't see it if they bring out a 'museum' version!)
 
I miss Guardian's UV glass. NO ripple and it had the blue plastic protective film so you didn't have to worry about being extra careful with handling cutoffs.
 
Cliff Wilson said:
I heard a rumor (from a source I was asked not to credit) that "the Germans" were going to start bringing glass into the US. Maybe this is the product they were talking about?
Click to expand...

You would think that the transportation cost would be too steep for that. Glass is heavy.

Then again, we import cheap glass from China...
 
Jerry Ervin said:
You would think that the transportation cost would be too steep for that. Glass is heavy.

Then again, we import cheap glass from China...
Click to expand...

Those 2 lb. ceramic plates at Old Time Pottery cost about 25 cents each. I also saw that they were selling framed Chinese mirrors for 99 cents.
 
I find that you can tell museum glass by cleaning it with Glass Plus. Museum glass has a prismy look to it when sprayed.

Sharon
 
TV finally has new sizes and is offering a $100 rebate on 3 cases. Most framers should have received an e-mail by now. Our LJ rep will take our order and deal with the paperwork for us.
 
Here in Canada, Omega Moulding is carrying Mirogard Preservation (also called Mirogard Plus) from General Glass; the uv numbers sit around 84% without a coating. It's priced more afordable and isn't as tempermental as Museum.

When Museum is out of my customers range, they go for this one.
 
I ordered a box of 32x40 MG that was delivered today with the coupon for up to $100 rebate for ordering the new sizes. The 24x30 would have been perfect and I would have gotten $25 back. Cant do anything about it because the order has to be ready by Friday. Why couldnt they have told me about the new sizes when I ordered? Im not happy. Whatcha wanna bet that I wont get another order until after June 1, when the offer ends.
 
Last edited:
MarkyW said:
Well, you probably don't need to open up the frame to tell if it has museum glass. If, when looking at the picture, you see a definite clear reflection of yourself, then it's not museum glass. To tell if it's regular clear or conservation clear glass, you can do the black light test. Take a sheet of paper from your printer and put it under the glass and shine a black light on it. If it shines back bright, it's regular glass. If it looks dark, then it's UV filtering glass.
Click to expand...

I know it is a day late, but this is my favorite test!
 
nikfrz said:
I ordered a box of 32x40 MG that was delivered today with the coupon for up to $100 rebate for ordering the new sizes. The 24x30 would have been perfect and I would have gotten $25 back. Cant do anything about it because the order has to be ready by Friday. Why couldnt they have told me about the new sizes when I ordered? Im not happy. Whatcha wanna bet that I wont get another order until after June 1, when the offer ends.
Click to expand...

Don't be upset with your distributor, they don't have the product. As far as I know nobody has it in yet nor are there any distributors that want to stock it right now ($$$), we're forced to stock it.
Pretty normal operating procedure for TruVue. Create a sku that only makes money for them.....
 
I was told Larson has it in my area and the TruVue e-mail notice came out on Tuesday of this week. By Wednesday the rep was in the store with the promotion flyer. It lasts until June 1, so we have plenty of time.
 
Thanks for everyones insight. Didn't know about the black light test.
Ylva said:
Would that be same for every mfg. (colors of the coatings)? Bring it gently so they won't feel too foolish. Make sure to tell them that they had no way of knowing, as you cannot tell by just looking at it (not completely true of course) and that you feel bad being the messenger.
If you were going to replace the glass anyway (this time with Museum), I'm not sure if you would have to bring it up? Not sure what the 'repair' quote is for.
Click to expand...

The repair quote is a common happening for me, I am on a military base and most of the military get moved and it is almost unheard of that the movers successfully move everything without damage. The quote was for the claim with the movers for replacement. I broke the news to them and they asked for the quote of replacing the glass in the frame and they will invest in the difference to preserve it. They were just glad to find out now before the art was effected. They are going to bring numerous similar pieces to have me check and replace the glass if necessary. Thanks again for all the responses.
 
Msqrd said:
... I broke the news to them and they asked for the quote of replacing the glass in the frame and they will invest in the difference to preserve it. They were just glad to find out now before the art was effected...
Click to expand...

This thread started with questions about Museum Glass, but now you're talking about "preserving" framed items. Are you confusing Museum Glass with Conservation Clear and Premium Clear?

The only feature that distinguishes any glazing material as "preservation" is UV filtering in the range of 300 to 380 nanometers, 98% or better. Conservation Clear and Museum Glass both have that feature, but Premium Clear does not.

UV filtering is available in both glass and acrylic, and in all three finishes -- plain, non-glare, and optically coated.

The only feature that distinguishes Museum Glass from other preservation grade glazing materials is its optical coatings. The appearance of Museum Glass completely different from Conservation Clear and it is immediately obvious to any observer. However, both of these glass products are equally protective, with 99% UV filtering coatings.

The bottom line:
If you want "preservation" glass, nothing exceeds the protective quality of Conservation Clear. If you want the best appearance, nothing exceeds the appearance quality of Museum Glass. Both of these are equally protective, and Conservation Clear costs a fraction of Museum Glass.
 
Museum glass is usually pretty obvious, other than the reduced glare. If you look at the face of it from one side, so the light reflects off, you'll see a purple tint or coating. That's how I do it, in any case.

The green (high iron) glass I think got phased out 2 or 3 years ago, from TruVue. Cheap float glass would probably still have the green iron coloring.

Mike
 
Mike Labbe @ GTP said:
Museum glass is usually pretty obvious, other than the reduced glare. If you look at the face of it from one side, so the light reflects off, you'll see a purple tint or coating. That's how I do it, in any case.
Click to expand...

Almost correct - don't forget AR Glass - optically coated without the UV filtering layer.
 
One thing that we see more often is consumers using terms that "might' not be exactly correct, but heard it somewhere else making it "gospel"

Had a client this week that bought a piece of art with "museum" framing and "museum" acrylic

It reminded me of "acid free", "all natural" and "fat free". Sometimes the effort to explain the truth is just not worth it

I guess if all "museums" really did use "museum" glass excluively, then that term, too, would be factual
 
Bob Carter said:
One thing that we see more often is consumers using terms that "might' not be exactly correct...
Click to expand...

Framing terminology may be unfamiliar to most consumers, but aren't professional framers supposed to recognize consumers' misperceptions and know how to correct their information tactfully, and for mutual benefit?
 
Create a Post
Back
Top