"sweating" leather mat from Crescent

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happycamper

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
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Jul 27, 2004
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calgary, alberta
Some time ago, we framed an portrait photograph using a leather mat from Crescent. Directly under the mat was a fillet (Roma) with a bead on it. The mat is right up against the glass and we are seeing "sweat marks" like spots on the mat under the glass. We will be fixing this for the customer at N/C but what can we do to prevent it from happening again. There are several others to match so a spacer will make it different from the others. Thanks for your comments.
 
Kiss marks

I call these kiss marks, and the only thing I have found that works, is to use glass spacers to raise the glass from the mat.

I'm sure there are other more experienced framers who have something else in their bag of tricks!

Elaine
 
yup...what Elaine said...spacers.
 
Spacers

No way around spacers that I know of unless you're good at levitation. You must keep the glass off this mat.

The depth of a thin spacer won't make it look "different than the others" because you can't even tell it's there.
 
I'll ditto all the above.

:icon11:

Dave Makielski
 
Without seeing those “sweat” marks first hand, my initial guess is that they are “Newton’s Rings” – a phenomenon sometimes seen with clear glass and a very glossy posters.

Newton’s Rings are caused by a “micro” condensation and very often have a shimmery appearance of an oil leak in your driveway.

Theoretically, if both surfaces were perfectly free from moisture (nary a molecule), they wouldn’t appear, but that is not possible.

I have had some luck using one-sided, non-glare glass with the etched side down, but, to be safe, spacers are the way to go.
 
FYI, I received some new mats from Crescent in the last couple of weeks.
Included in the package were several new leather mats along with a note to be sure and keep the leather mat off of the glass.
 
Sometimes if I need just a bit of separation like this, but don't want the look of deeper spacers, I make my own out of matboard. Just take a strip of board (pref. black core) the length of the long dimension and hand-apply ATG along the edge of one side, leaving the backing paper on. You can lay down two rows of it side-by-side if needed. Burnish in place. Then cut strips of this prepared board 3/16 to 1/4" wide (depending on the width of your frame's lip)using the straight cut side of a straightline mat cutter. Peel off the backing and press in place to the glass perimeter inside the fame, burnishing well. The shorter dimension's strips can be easily cut to length with scissors.
This should give you just enough lift to prevent the undesired marks from appearing.
:popc: Rick
 
Rick is giving my solution

I think if you do a search in the archives you may find a post I made about this very same problem and the discovery i made.

It was in deed the glass sweating from changes in temperature and resulting unseen moisture accumulating between the two nonporous surfaces( Glass and leather mat. in my case the customer refused to accept the explanation until i had the mat manufacturer mail him their opinion. It was exasperated by this very frugal young man turning off his A/C when he left in the morning for work and then cranking it back up when he returned .

My solution was to use a very small Black core /Black mat on the outer perimeter ( on top of a Black leather top mat .I know how kinky that sounds )since the real culprit was the fact that we were using a Metal mat and at the time I was still using Spring Clips which squeezed the two surfaces together and smashed any developing humidity between them making them very visible.

The mat absorbed the moisture ( maybe better than a acrylic spacer) and allowed more slack between the two surfaces both of which allowed the moisture that developed to disappear instead of being trapped for all to see.

Maybe if you do a search for spring clips you may have better luck than leather mats. but I know i posted this before.( Long ago)
BUDDY
 
"in the package were several new leather mats along with a note to be sure and keep the leather mat off of the glass"

got the corners...MINUS the note....nice to know...thanks
 
In the matching pieces, the fillet is probably sticking out in front of the mat just enough to keep it far enough from the glass to get rid of the spots. Make sure the fillet is secure, and won't push back. Add mat board spacers around the edge to be certain.

That ought to do it, and still look like the others.
 
Along with a fillet that protrudes slightly above the mat, Econospace makes wonderful little 1/16" spacer that keeps the extra depth less obvious.
 
It's the ONLY way to make it look good, now as well as tomorrow.
I have also had good luck with Econospace, I love that stuff, it makes me look good...
 
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