FAQs About Crescent Brands Matboard Options
Q: What does "museum grade" mean?
A: Museum grade matboards are 100% cotton throughout, including the surface, core, and backing. They are naturally acid-free and lignin-free and available in buffered and unbuffered options.
Q: What types of projects use museum grade products?
A: Museum grade products are trusted by artists, historians, and framing professionals to frame valuable art, historical documents, original photography, and other pieces that must be preserved for decades.
Q: What museum grade products does Crescent Brands offer?
A: Crescent Brands proudly offers Ragmat Museum and Alpharag Artcare.
Q: What is Artcare technology?
A: Artcare technology features patented micro-chambers called Zeolites that trap and neutralize harmful gases in the air, protecting your art from fading, yellowing, and aging. For more details, check out our 30th Anniversary celebration post on Artcare.
Q: What does "conservation grade" mean?
A: Conservation grade matboards are made of alpha-cellulose (wood pulp) chemically treated with calcium carbonate to permanently eliminate the acids and lignin that can degrade the matboard and artwork.
Q: What types of projects use conservation grade products?
A: Conservation grade products are ideal for limited edition prints, valuable documents, photography, and art of personal value.
Q: What conservation grade products does Crescent Brands offer?
A: Crescent Brands offers a range of conservation grade products, including Alphamat Artcare, Crescent Select, Bainbridge Fabrics and Textures, and Royal Moorman.
Q: Why is it essential to use certified conservation-grade matboard?
A: Without conservation-grade matboard, meaning no acid or lignin is present in the matboard, artwork and photographs will deteriorate over time, fading and discoloring. With conservation-grade matboard, cherished artwork will be protected for decades, allowing the art to be passed down through generations.
Q: What should I expect out of conservation grade matboard from Crescent Brands?
A: Our conservation quality matboard will always be of archival quality, chemically treated to permanently remove all acid and lignin, protecting your art from acid burn and discoloration. Surface papers are always made from quality pigments to provide optimum fade resistance. Colors will always be color-fast and will not transfer their color to other materials when exposed to moisture or humidity. Crescent Brands consistently tests above industry standards for fade and bleed. With Crescent Brands, you’re truly getting the best every single time.
Q: How does Crescent Brands ensure our matboard exceeds conservation quality standards?
A: The short answer is that no raw materials are brought into our facility without QC’s approval, and no finished goods leave our facility without QC’s approval.
Before any materials are received, our vendors must first submit samples from every paper roll along with a data sheet. Our QC team reviews these samples and the corresponding data sheet to ensure the product is made to Crescent Brands’ specifications. Once our QC department has approved the raw materials, it is then received into our facility
During the matboard manufacturing process, we have online and offline inspectors that review our production and ensure everything is compliant. After production, all product is on hold, waiting for QC approval. Only after QC approval are the boards released into the plant and available for sale.
Q: What types of quality control does Crescent Brands perform on matboards?
A: Below are the inspections that are performed on our raw materials:
Below are the inspections that are performed on our finished goods (after manufacturing):
Q: What are the additional benefits of using Crescent Brands conservation quality matboard?
A: A key component of conservation quality matboard is the finished sheet size. With Crescent Brands, you will always have a finished sheet that measures 32 ⅝” by 40 ⅝”, so you get a full yield out of each board. Our conservation quality matboard undergoes rigorous testing, checking for color drift, lamination strength, bevel quality, dimensional accuracy, paper/ply registration, and lay flatness. Quality is our promise to you.
We hope this guide helps you understand the various matboard options from Crescent Brands and feel confident that you are getting a product that consistently exceeds industry standards. Whether you're preserving a valuable piece of art or framing a cherished photograph, we have the right product for your project.
