Acid -free Archival

I vented my frustration with the high price of a custom frame in my Tail wagging the dog post.  A keen-eyed reader pointed out some specifics of the price quote that might have escaped my attention.

The word "Preservation" might be the culprit.  

The cover of the frame might be UV blocking non-reflective glass or acrylic.

The mat and backing board were stated to be acid-free archival, which meant resistance to yellowing and degradation.

The whole notion was to preserve the framed material, and this added level of protection was different from a run of the mill picture frame that I could have picked up from the shelves.

The well meaning point was well taken.  In fact the first hurdle I needed to cross in those rare occasions that I would be talking to galleries was that I could not vouch for the fact that my works were done on acid-free archival paper.  None of my various Xuan paper would state that they are acid-free or archival.  In the litigious society that I live in, a wanton affirmation could steer me into false representation.  Thus I couldn't even set foot in the doors of such galleries.   

The fact of the matter was that I was just looking for a flat-bed trailer for hauling, but instead I went for a gilded carriage. 

My bad!!

I have a habit of pinning my scraps and practice works on the wall.  In one forgotten corner of my room I noticed something shocking, quite by chance I might add,

I noticed the bottom of the stack had numerous holes in the paper.

Whereas the scrap immediately on top did not,

The piece of paper on the bottom became food for the silverfish.  

When my house had cedar shingles as roofing I had constant problems with silverfish.  That infestation went away after I switched over to composite roofing.

That leads to a point that I shall make.  When making my starch glue, I've always added a few grains of mothball to the mix.  The camphor in the mothball helped to ward off pests like the silverfish.   The fact that my mounted pieces were not affected albeit hanging at the same place could be a testament to the effectiveness of the mothball.  Perhaps this was my acid-free archival method of preservation. 

I had a student complained that she was getting a headache from the stench of mothball while learning how to do wet mounting.  Perhaps I used too much?  Now that I've run out of mothball, I am using a few drops of tea tree oil instead.

Seems to do the trick, but I don't think I have a silverfish problem anymore to validate my new formula.