Guide to Adhesives in Picture Framing
It may be tempting to use any household glue or adhesive tape for all your picture framing, but each type of picture framing adhesive is specially made for its own specific purpose.
Using other multipurpose glues or adhesive tape can result in discoloration, deterioration or even damage to your art or frame. Nobody wants that! Instead, here are a few tips that can help you prevent an expensive or irreversible adhesive mistake.
Photo Mounting Adhesive
The most common place to use adhesive in picture framing is attaching the photo to the mount board or mat board, depending on the method you choose. There are many different photo mounting techniques, each using a different type of adhesive: hinging tape or tissue, spray adhesive, and wheat or rice starch paste.
Hinging Tape and Tissue
Hinging tape can serve two purposes: it can be used to mount your photo to a mat board and to hinge the mat to the mount board. Hinging tape is thicker than hinging tissue, the latter of which is a transparent, thinner version that is used on translucent or lightweight artwork. These often use either a pressure-sensitive or water-activated adhesive.
Lineco’s Self-Adhesive Hinging Tape, Tyvek Tape, and Self-Adhesive Hinging Tissue all use a pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive that is considered archival quality. Lineco’s Gummed Linen Hinging Tape and Gummed Paper Hinging Tape, which are made for heavier prints and artwork, both use a water-activated adhesive made with carbohydrate and protein, which features a neutral pH and is deemed safe for photos.
Personally, Lineco’s Self-Adhesive Linen Hinging Tape is my favorite when framing prints. It is quick and easy, as it’s a pressure sensitive tape, and I use it for both hinging the mat to the backing and hinging the print. For museum-grade framing or when mounting artwork on very thin paper, the Hinging Tissue should be used instead of Hinging Tape to hinge the artwork.
Most household pressure-sensitive tapes, such as office tape, masking tape and duct tape, should never be used in picture framing. The adhesives used in these products vary but can contain synthetic or natural rubber; rubber-based adhesives can become yellow, oily and sticky as they age, damaging the artwork to which it is attached. Acrylic adhesives, on the other hand, are much more stable over time and do not significantly discolor.
Starch-Based Adhesives
Some of the oldest types of adhesives — used by ancient Egyptians to bind papyrus — are starch-based pastes, which are made by cooking either rice or wheat. Starch adhesives are often used with special Japanese paper in conservation framing; the Lineco Museum Mounting Kit contains wheat starch adhesive, Japanese mulberry paper and linen cloth hinging tape.
The benefits to using starch adhesives are that it is reversible, meaning the artwork can be removed from the mount or mat board, and it is considered safe to use in preservation framing. On the downside, starch adhesives are weaker than acrylic or rubber adhesives and shouldn’t be used with heavy artwork. They also may be a little fussier to use, especially for someone who does not mount a lot of photos — but the sophistication of the end result may be worth it.
Other photo mounting techniques to be used in conservation-style framing are non-adhesive techniques. With these methods, you use photo corners and strips, whose adhesives never come in contact with the artwork.
Dust Cover Adhesives
In How to Attach a Dust Cover to a Picture Frame, two types of adhesives were discussed: ATG tape and liquid PVA glue.
Adhesive Transfer Tape
ATG tape, also called adhesive transfer tape, uses a special gun to apply a thin layer of adhesive. The three Scotch® adhesive transfer tapes carried by Frame Destination — including Gold 908, 924 and 969 — use a pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive. Scotch Gold 908 is acid-free, but none of the adhesive transfer trapes should be used in direct contact with artwork.
Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA)
PVA glue is a versatile adhesive used in all types of projects, not just picture framing. Also called wood glue, school glue (Elmer’s Glue, known all across the U.S., is a type of PVA glue) and white glue due to its color before drying, liquid PVA (if formulated for use in conservation projects) can be used to attach dust covers, attach items in a shadow box and in scrapbooking. Lineco’s archival adhesive is one such PVA glue, and it is safe to use in framing projects.
Summing Up Adhesives
The right adhesives play an important role in picture framing. They can help you avoid damaging your art and preserve it for years to come. Whether it’s a photo-safe liquid glue or a roll of ATG tape, professional and amateur framers alike have their favorite adhesives when framing their art, each ideal for a specific purpose.
For a deeper dive into the world of adhesives and mounting, check out the "Mounting and Laminating Handbook" by Chris Paschke, sold right her on our website.
Do you have your own favorite picture framing adhesive? Let us know below!
Last Updated August 21, 2023