Repair torn document

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terrytown

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Salt Lake City, UT
Have just received a frame order for a 1959 calendar in need of repair. Has a couple of tears about 2-3" long. What is the best way to fix them? ( I tried to find something in the archives about this, but no luck. )

Terry
 
I first suggest to the customer that such tears be "repaired" & I tell them I use Archival Mending Tissue (transparent). I then get their permission and in some cases have them sign for permission to do so......I should have everyone sign for it.

Personally, I use Lineco's Transparent Mending Tissue as directed. Thus far, I've only used it on the back of documents but it can be used on front.

You should be able to get it from any of our vendors. If not, Lineco can tell you who carries it in your area.
 
Good point Rick (Greg too!).......

obviously it is the customer's ultimate decision as to whether the 'piece' goes to a conservator or not, but let's use this piece as an example:

a 1959 calendar in need of repair........

How do other framer's determine if they use mending tape or send it off to a conservator? If the customer says, "Oh no, it's not worth sending it to a conservator", do you then have the customer sign a waiver to have YOU mend it? Or do you refuse the job because the customer won't send it to a conservator?

WHEN and HOW do YOU draw the line?? Interesting.
 
With discretion, we mend it with material & procedures that we have experience using. If it's a 'first' for us, then even more discretion is involved. Sometimes our mending involves mounting with Artcare Restore rather than adhesive tape products.

Our line is drawn on a case by case basis and our comfort level. Without any other information, we'd probably mend a 50 year old calendar.

When to draw the line....
Original 1684 land deed with folds and tears. We strongly recommended conservator treatment and then we built an Artcare storage folder & mylar encapsulation. We refused to frame it and customer was happy with the logic and storage folder.

Civil War letters home.... conservator treatment and framed.

Rebecca Pavitt has been a miracle worker in our book for paper repairs.
 
Thank you Rick - that's very nice of you.


For mending tears yourselves, I'd suggest either Japanese paper and wheat starch paste as per hinging or pressure sensitive mending tissue that you can make youself with Japanese paper and Lascaux HV 360. They might require some practice, but are normally pretty simple to use.

The reason I'm not so keen on the document repair tapes is that down the road they are often impossible to remove. Also, they are pretty wide, so often much more of the paper is covered by the tape than is necessary.

Rebecca
 
To second what Rebecca has said, putting pressure-sensitive tape on valued paper is always risky.
The Lascuax 360 she mentions is different from most pressure-seneitive adhesives, available on tape. 360 is tacky, because the polymers used to make it make it that way, and not (as is true for
most tapes) because of additives. It is those addidives that can pollute the paper fibers. Japanese tissue and paste are tried and true.If you MUST patch tears, do it her way, please.


Hugh
 
We had the occasion to frame a 1954 Marilyn Monroe calendar a couple of years ago. It had been rolled up & unrolled several times so the edges were dinged up and tears in several places. The customer was going to "fix" it with scotch tape - - - instead we convinced him to leave it alone, and we framed it w/ rag mat to hide most of the tears & rag backing. It is being held in the package w/ archival 3" corners. Looked good & customer was pleased w/ the result.
 
I'll third what Hugh and Rebecca said.

I don't pretend to be a conservator, and I know when to say no and pay a professional. See the current plumbing thread on Warped. But I have had good success with mulberry strips, as small as I can make them, attached with wheat or rice starch paste. All the usual procedures are the same as if you were hinging.

I figure it's enough to at least stabilize small rips and tears in the paper and keep it from getting worse, but it's also very easily reversible by someone down the line who might be doing more extensive work.
 
Rebecca & Hugh,

Are you saying that LINECO ARCHIVAL mending tape has additives in it?? And you'd recommend Lascuax 360 over it?

My concern with using anything moist, as in pastes, is the effect on the 'article' being repaired.....i.e. changing the color of the paper - even after it dries and/or the warbled effect, even with pressure for drying.

I know it takes pratice and for 'valuable' articles, a conservator is the only way to go!

Thanks always for your input!!
 
Retail commercial products have proprietary components, which are keep secret, for legitimate reasons. Since conservators want to know exactly what they are using, they prefer materials, such as Lascaux 360, which are really made for industrial applications and do not need as many things added to them as a product designed for the general public would. Some tapes are made for
library use, with circulating collections, which
must be handled extensively to be useful. To erform properly, that tape must hold the paper strongly, during that handling, while the sort of
mending that Rebecca mentioned might not stand up
to handling by the public.


Hugh


Hugh
 
Great thread folks...

Thanks.

Dave Makielski
 
Hugh,
Thanks, as always, for your response. I had always considered LINECO products to be very specialized, meeting the performance needs of conservators.

The learning just never stops in this business! And customers think we just slap four sticks together, stick in some glass, plaster our name on the back and call it "framing"! Yeah, right!

nuts.gif
 
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