I certainly do not mean to step on any toes with my comments, but I just stumbled across this thread after a conversation I had with a customer this morning. We do framing for the Lebron James Family Foundation and do a fair amount of jersey framing. I have always used Trilene 4 lb. fishing line to sew down jerseys of any kind. This morning one of the gals from the foundation came in to pick up a frame project and complimented us on the fact that we do NOT use the EZ attach system. I have never heard a comment like before and have used the other products from the line with great success and happy results.
You may want to consider the fact that some customers do not want to see the plastic tags on their product. I am also a fan of heavy cotton thread depending on the project.
Lori
Lori, I don't mean to put down your methods of attaching Jersey's but you seem to have been given some misinformation on the tagging gun system. From what I have seen, the difference between fishing line and nylon fasteners is pretty clear. Fishing line biodegrades over time and 4 lb line is sharp, as well as strong enough in the beginning that a catastrophic fall from the wall could really do damage to the shirt. The line will cut the shirt, rather than break. On the other hand, the nylon fasteners will pull through the holes of the backing board without doing harm to the shirt.
I introduced the tagging gun system to the industry 12 years ago and in that time millions of shirts have been attached using my method. There are also lot's of shirts out there that have been attached by people who say they are using tools similar to Attach-EZ, which says that they are doing their own thing. Anytime someone says that they don't like to see the fasteners, it tells me that they aren't using my methods and probably have never seen a demonstration on how to correctly fasten down a shirt with a tagging tool. The fact that the LJFF people even knew the difference is surprising because they wouldn't even know how the shirt was attached if it was done with a tagging tool and correctly installed according to my instructions.
I have seen first hand the damage that can be done when a shirt is attached with thread that doesn't break in a catastrophic fall. I have also had many production houses that frame 1000's of jerseys a year call to ask how they can attach a shirt that won't let go during shipping. I will ask them," was there damage done to the shirt?" and the answer is always, no.
When a package is dropped 10 ft off a truck or conveyer belt during shipping,
it is a good thing when the fasteners pull through the holes during that kind of a hard fall. I've got 20+ years of framing experience and 12 years of first hand data that dispells a lot of the misconseptions about the use of tagging tools to mount jersey's. The fasteners are nylon and don't biodegrade, the needles are ball point and won't cut the fabric. To be considered archival the shirt must not be harmed by the attaching system and break away without harm during a fall. There are millions of jersey's out there and thousands of framers who use my methods and can attest to the fact that the system saves countless hours of labor and does no harm. So, you didn't step on my toes, you gave me the oppertunity to dispell the misinformation that rears it's ugly head at least once a year. And for that I thank you.
Note: If you really want to be archival, you should check out my newest method for mounting all types of clothing. It's sewless and fastenless, with no piercing of the fabric.
Rick
