Safeguarding Heritage: Conservation & Archival Framing

An investment painting, a rare historical document, a limited-edition print, or a sentimental family heirloom all share one trait: once damaged, their financial and emotional value can be lost forever.

At Craft Picture Framers, located in Claremont, Cape Town, we understand that professional framing isn’t just about making art look beautiful on a wall—it is about active preservation. Through Conservation Framing, we utilize strict museum-grade, archival materials and reversible techniques to ensure your valuable artwork remains completely untouched by time, environmental factors, and degradation.

We frame valuable artwork for clients and galleries which often require museum grade framing.

These are mostly paper artworks that are vulnerable to decay and damage if not framed correctly which often occurs with old paper works from decades ago. 

The Invisible Threat: How Acid Destroys Art

Many people don’t realize that standard, budget-friendly framing materials can actually destroy art from the inside out.

Standard matboards and backing boards are manufactured from unrefined wood pulp, which naturally contains an organic compound called lignin. Over time, lignin breaks down and releases harmful acids directly into anything it touches.

The Signs of Acid Damage:

• Mount Burn: Permanent brown or yellow staining that creeps along the edges where the matboard meets the paper.
• Brittleness: Acid breaks down the cellulose fibers in paper art, causing it to become incredibly fragile, brittle, and prone to cracking or flaking.
• Foxing: Brownish spots and severe discoloration across the face of the artwork.

By the time you notice these signs, the structural integrity of your artwork has already been compromised.

Our Archival Shield: Premium Preservation Materials

To combat chemical degradation, our workshop strictly uses premium, non-destructive conservation components:

1. Archival Matboards & Backing Boards

We only use 100% acid-free, alpha-cellulose or cotton rag archival matboards. These boards are completely stripped of lignin during manufacturing and are buffered with calcium carbonate. This means they maintain a safe, alkaline pH balance that actively neutralizes airborne pollutants and acidic gases, creating a protective micro-environment around your artwork.

2. Acid-Free Reversible Tapes

Traditional adhesive tapes (like masking tape, duct tape, or standard packing tape) contain synthetic glues that melt, turn yellow, and bleed oil into paper fibers. We use specialized, pressure-sensitive conservation tapes or water-activated starch tapes that are entirely acid-free, chemically inert, and formulated to never yellow or lose their grip.

The Art of the Hinge: Attaching Art Securely and Safely

One of the most critical elements of conservation framing is how the artwork is mounted inside the display. We never glue or tape the entire perimeter of a piece down, as paper needs to naturally breathe, expand, and contract with changes in atmospheric humidity.

Instead, we employ professional archival hinging techniques:

• T-Hinges or Pendant Hinges: We suspend the artwork from the top edge using delicate, museum-grade archival tape hinges attached directly to the backing board. The artwork hangs freely behind the window mat.
• Zero Face Adhesion: The tape never touches the face or edges of the artwork; it secures only the upper back margin.
• 100% Reversibility: True conservation framing must be completely reversible. The premium archival tapes we use can be safely removed at any point in the future using a tiny amount of moisture or gentle heat, leaving the artwork in its absolute original state without any adhesive residue.
• Besides the mounting,  often overlooked is the backing board, We use an  archival grade foamcore with an additional archival mount board buffer  between the artwork and backing board for added protection

Defensive Shielding: Art Glass for UV Protection

While acid destroys artwork from behind, light attacks it from the front. Standard picture glass offers zero defense against invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays coming from sunlight or indoor ambient lighting. UV exposure acts like a slow sunburn, permanently bleaching vibrant pigments, fading signatures, and rapidly accelerating the decay of paper fibers.

To combat this, we offer premium Art Glass / Conservation-Grade Glazing:

• Up to 90% UV Protection: This specialized glass blocks harmful ultraviolet wavelengths, stopping light-induced fading in its tracks.
• Anti-Reflective Optical Clarity: Along with protection, Art Glass features an advanced interference coating that eliminates distracting room reflections and glare. It makes the glass virtually invisible, allowing the true colors and textures of your artwork to shine through undisturbed.
• As additional protection we secure the glass to the mounting boards and backing boards with  tape barrier to prevent dust or debris ever penetrating the actual framed work.

Protect Your Investment Today

Your valuable art deserves more than a standard frame; it deserves a long-term preservation strategy. Visit our studio at The Stadium on Main in Claremont to explore our range of conservation matboards and museum-grade glazing. Let our experienced team build a beautiful, protective barrier around your collection.

Contact us for a quotation: