There is a world of difference between your average everyday mat board and Archival Methods’ Bright White 100% Cotton Museum Board.
Containing no wood pulp byproducts at all, Archival Methods’ Bright White Museum Board is instead made of 100% cotton fiber. This “museum-quality” mat board, as its very name suggests, is acid- and lignin-free, incorporates alkaline / neutral sizing, and is buffered with calcium carbonate. Puzzled by all this terminology? See our blog post Archival Definitions: Acid-Free / Buffered / Unbuffered.
All this ensures protection from the damaging and destructive effects of acid migration from the matted work, and from a potentially polluted environment that might cause the pH of the mat board to decrease (become more acidic) with age.
In addition, no optical brightening agents are used in the manufacture of our 100% Cotton Museum Boards. While the concept of having a chemically “brightened” mat board may seem to be a good idea, these chemicals often yellow with age — completely defeating their purpose — and can contaminate the very things you wish to archivally mat and protect.
Quality Manufacturing
Archival Methods’ Bright White 100% Cotton Museum Board is the perfect acid-free choice for quality matting, mounting, and preservation of fine prints, precious documents, artwork, collectibles, and traditional and digital photographs.
Three Helpful Hints
Helpful Hint #1: when looking to mat and mount your materials consider using 4-ply Museum Board for both your window mat and for your mat’s backing board. This is often considered the industry standard in both museums and commercial frame shops, as this will create a safe 1/16’’ separation between your artwork and its glazing (glass or plexiglas) if framing, and will provide a flat, supportive backing while in storage.
Helpful Hint #2: If you are storing delicate or valuable — either monetarily or sentimentally valuable — materials, consider placing each item you wish to store in an individual Crystal Clear Bag or archival Polyethylene Bag with a correctly-sized sheet of 2-ply Bright White 100% Cotton Museum Board added for structural stability and protection.
Helpful Hint #3: All mat boards, especially white mat boards, have small tonal shifts in color that cannot be reproduced accurately on computer screens, as each monitor will display colors differently depending on its calibration. To make the best selection regarding the color of the mat board you wish to use, it is best to evaluate an actual mat board sample and your artwork together under the same lighting conditions. To make this an easy and painless procedure, please order Archival Methods’ inexpensive Mat Board Sample Kit to see the full range of colors and thicknesses available.
Whatever you need to mat or support, consider using Archival Methods’ Bright White 100% Cotton Museum Board. It’s the professional’s choice for elegant matted presentations and archival preservation!
Contact Us
In addition, if you have any questions or would you like more information on any of our museum-quality archival storage and presentation materials, please contact us here at Archival Methods. We’re always there to help with any archiving, storage, or presentation questions you may have.
