Our resident picture framer Judy tests another of our newer supply products.

I’m not a fan of using cotton gloves when framing because wearing a glove usually means that I loose dexterity.  But in the spirit of revisiting old and possibly stale opinions, I took a second look at the gloves that we sell.

Pros:

• Gloves protect artwork, glazing and mats from skin oils and fingerprints. This is a big plus!
• They’re good for brushing off specs of dust and lint
• Quick to put on and take off since they are loose
• Lint free
• Can be washed and reused

Cons:

• They’re fairly formless so they fit loosely on my medium-sized, female hands
• Tend to slide off of my hands since there’s no wrist band
• They have minimal gripping ability – they’re not good for holding tools
• You can’t easily pick up artwork with the gloves on

Conclusion:

So, do the pros outweigh the cons?  The answer is yes. These gloves serve a definite and useful purpose and that’s to keep your artwork and framing products clean.

I recommend that you wear a glove on your non-dominant hand to brush off dust and lint, and for handling the surfaces of the mat, artwork and glazing.  But keep your dominant hand glove-less for fine motor actions like pulling back the protective paper on acrylic, taping the artwork onto mats, etc.

Find out more about the cotton gloves.

You may have noticed an option for Crescent Whitecore matboards in the pH Neutral Standard section of our website. Maybe you wondered what the deal was since most mats have a white core.

Crescent International Whitecore mats actually are made with a bright white core material. This means that the beveled window edge surrounding around your artwork is not just white, it’s a bright white. The core material in most pH neutral mats will turn a cream color and eventually a tan as time passes (that’s just what happens as paper products age). But in these International Whitecore mats the layers that make up the core have been bleached so they won’t discolor.

Crescent Whitecore mats are a good choice any time you want a sharp white edge next to your art – the bevel shows up especially well against darker colors in the image.  If a Crescent matboard comes in International Whitecore it will have the letters CSRM in front of the identifying number.

If you order a frame from us – either metal or wood – some foam bumpers will be included with your frame. These frame bumpers really should be called wall bumpers since their purpose is to protect the wall, not the frame. 

If you look at a frame hanging on a wall, you’ll notice that the bottom corners rest against the wall.  In most cases the top corners of the frame are pulled slightly away from the wall.  So it’s on the bottom corners of the frame that you’d place the bumpers. 

Using bumpers on metal frames is especially important since metal is more likely to generate scratches.

If you order metal frames from us you’ll get 4 square foam bumpers. Put two of these on the bottom corners, and use the other two for any potential contact point, like on the hangers that support the wire.  If you order wood frames, you’ll get 2 round foam bumpers.

In either case, simply peel off the protective paper and stick them onto the corners.  Place them a little back from the frame edge so they’re hidden from view.

We also sell bumpers individually.

Our Light Green Gold Square frame may look like an ordinary brown frame on our website and in our catalog, but if you take a closer look you’ll see why it’s a customer favorite and why we often recommend it.

The face of the moulding has mossy green flecks, a walnuty-gold surface and lots of fine texture lines. It has a slightly gilded and Asian look.

This is a great frame for artwork with an organic and earthy quality. We probably wouldn’t recommend it for use with blues and other cool tones, but if your artwork showcases browns, warm greens and golden colors – like what you’d see on your Thanksgiving table – it’ll be the perfect complement.

The face of the moulding is 1 3/8” wide, the outside black edge is 3/4” high and the rabbet space is 1/2”. This Omega moulding always cuts sharply and the corners join nicely too.  And, as Category B frame it’s a good value for good quality.

Frame shown with a Bainbridge B715 Meadow Green

Black Core Mats are a wonderful choice for photography. In a black core mat the core material is black instead of white, so what shows in the bevel is a thin black line. This is a great way to give an illusion of a second mat with out having to pay for one.

Black core mats are perfect for making color images pop and bringing definition to black and white images.

Black Core mats cost about 5-10% more than similar standard core mats, but considerably less than a double mat. If you want to spice up your matted art and give some punch with little extra price, try some black core mats.

Black core mats are available in pH neutral Bainbridge Papermats and Crescent Papermats and also in Archival Alphamats and 6ply Top Mats.