Inkjet Print Discolouring

[Pheasant]

We have experienced a baffling saga. I am posting this for two reasons, firstly to share our experience and pass on what we have learnt so far, and secondly in the hope that someone can supply an answer to my question "what triggered it?"

The problem

The customer had asked us to float mount a print which we did in our normal manner using 5mm "Gildan" foam core (faced with acid free papers). The board was one from a pack that we have had in stock for several weeks, so it wasn't "fresh from the factory".

The print was attached using the hedgehog method using archival P7-70 tape. We left the print face down on acid free tissue weighted with a lite of glass and left it over the weekend. On returning to the print we found that the printed face of the paper had turned a lemon yellow colour - but only on the narrow border that didn't have the foam core on the reverse! Only the print face of the paper was affected, it was as if a chemical reaction had taken place with the coating applied to the print surface.

IMG_0245.jpg (65.98 KiB) Viewed 4416 times

Analysis

I was left pondering if there might be something about the core of the foam board. For this to be the cause then my theory would be that "gas" had come from the freshly cut edge of the foam and penetrated to the other side of the paper. To give some evidence to this it was noticeable that the disclouration was less where the tape was applied on the reverse side to the print.

The paper was a Breathing Colour Optica One paper. We seldom come across Breathing Colour papers in the UK, but we regularly mount Hahnemuhle, Canson and St Cuthbert papers using these materials.

We had our expert paper restorer look at the print (she works for the British Museum and Courtaulds Institute and really knows her stuff) she had seen nothing like it before.

I placed an order for some Optica One paper from Breathing Colour in the UK and made many test samples using the same tapes, glass, foam board, tissue etc. I also "contaminated" samples of the print paper with anything that was in the building! Water, glass cleaner, white spirit, methylated spirit. NOT ONE of the test pieces showed any discolouration! Test where made in both hot and cold parts of the building.

Perhaps of note is the fact that the offending paper had deckled edges but Breathing Colour supply only cut sheets and rolls, could some deckling process sensitised the paper?

I still don't know what triggered the reaction.


Good things

As is so often the case in this business of ours everyone has been most helpful, including the customer! Special mentions to Wessex in the UK, Breathing Colour in the US and Gildan in the US and the Artist Josh Keyes, who offered to reprint and sign off a replacement for what was a sold out limited edition.

I was able to find one published article that made mention to the coatings on inkjet paper being susceptible to rapid discolouring in the presence of plasticisers and that exposure to UV light could reverse it. I can confirm that it in this case it did - almost.

I now have a replacement print, and a customer who would like me to float mount it.......

So what triggered the reaction? and How do I avoid repeating this saga?

I look forward to your answers.

[pramsay13]

Sorry I can't help you but I like the bit about the good things.
Often with these things it is not necessarily the problem itself, but your response to a problem that will define you as a business and how people view you (and therefore whether they will continue giving you business).

[Not your average framer]

It sounds to me that you may have been a bit unlucky to get this problem. Logically it should not take very long for any reactive volatiles within the cellular sructure of the foamboard to disperse into the air at a normal room temperature, after cutting the aperture.

Perhaps the lite of glass may have prolonged the exposure of the print to whatever was out gassing from the cut aperture in the foamboard, but who knows? Of course, the hedgehog method is equally applicable to the use of mountboard, instead of foamboard and this could be an alternative if you have any future concerns about this happening again.

[IFGL]

I am 100 % with mark on this, it seams to be a problem with the foam core reacting with the ink or paper or both, I think breathing colour papers contain oba's (from memory but my memory is often flawed) perhaps this may have broken down very fast and caused yellowing?

artcare mount board should counter this kind of thing.


I did see something similar happen to one of our prints that was wrapped in normal paper (not by us) the paper had yellowed substantially after a few weeks.

[silvercleave]

The first question I would ask is "who deckled the paper" On looking at your photo I would suggest that when it was deckled the water to soften the paper was contaminated?

Just a thought,

Ian

[Richard Photofusion]

This from a discussion over at the Luminous Landscape http://tinyurl.com/ovrmlm3

Had anything been redecorated in the workshop, new cleaning products used, a spooky combination of new moon, equinox and...

From the linked discussion, sounds like an environmental contaminant (was possibly amplified by the deckled edge). A quick ogogle brings up no reference for "5mm "Gildan" foam core" ,so perhaps the most likely environmental contaminant.

Glad that all parties (yourself included) were able to approach the issue with such a professional attitude.

[Not your average framer]

Mmmm, two previos posts contain two very interesting suggestions, which I had not previously considered.

Both I would suggest have more that a little credibility from a scientific standpoint!

If the paper was indeed wet deckled and if ordinary tap water containing chlorine was used and since many ink jet papers are surface coated with coatings containing sodium silicate, then the sodium silicate will naturally attract and bond the chlorine to it's self. Chlorine is highly acidic and acidity does cause yellowing of the paper.

Chlorine is also not always good news when it comes to OBA's, or for that matter china clay coated paper, because of the resulting acid - alkaline reactions causing some, or all of the OBA's, china clay, or any alkaline buffering to disolve into the water containing the chlorine, depending upon amounts present.

Chlorine is also a very reactive substance due to it's high acidity.

Of course, you can never fully exclude the combination of all three already mentioned possibilities acting together at the same time.

[IFGL]

breathing color (it makes my skin crawl to spell colour that way) know about the problem and offer papers with and without obas from their own website.

[Pheasant]

Many thanks for all of the replies and your added knowledge.

My belief is that the deckling process that had been used did sensitise the edge of the paper - the fact that none of the "new" paper samples in exactly the same conditions have reacted tends to support this possibillity. I will try deckling a piece use tap water and then reproduce the conditions with that. In a previous career I ran safety research for the Civil Aviation Authority and the engineer in me wants to understand this!

Once the yellowing started it seemed to progress over a few days as if by chain reaction, even when the print had been removed from the "harmful" environment.

I did buy a UV lamp but this had only a negligible effect after many hours use, whilst February sunlight had a dramatic effect after only two hours. So if this ever happens to you get the print exposed to sunlight.

I think the evidence also suggests that plastic with plasticer has a part to play. So I will be very careful to store inkjet paper and prints away from any polythene and polystyrene materials.

In future I will not be using foam board for any part of the framing task if the artwork is an inkjet print.

Richard, I'm off to Hong Kong later this year and may contact Aaron Chan whilst there, it sounds as if he has an interesting business.

Thanks again,

Nick

[Not your average framer]

Mmmmm, I can understand why you are saying the things that you are saying, but I would be careful not to draw too many conclusions just based upon things that have come up during this discussion alone.

OBA's and other paper additives and coating are not just added to inkjet papers, but many other types of paper, so this effect may also apply to other types of artwork as well.

Another point, if foamboard is such a bad thing why don't we hear more about problems like this. After all, lots of framers are using foamboard on a regular basis, without any problems like this being reported!

There is something happening in this particular case which is obviously not typical, so it's probably a combination of factors rather than just one factor causing this problem. Unless you able to duplicate this effect in a way that reliably demonstrates how this effect is caused then you may be going to a lot of trouble for no good reason.

Mounting onto mountboard, instead of foamboard is a no brainer, because it may even turn out to cheaper as well as better for the artwork, if the mountboard is of conservation quality.

[Pheasant]

Mark, I wasn't suggesting that we all stop using foam core! Just that with my recent experience I am very reluctant to risk a repetition and that until I know what happened, and more importantly I know how to avoid it happening again, I have to do things differently with the replacement print. The feeling of watching a customer's valued artwork change colour in front of your eyes is not nice!!

Tests are still on-going - deckling in "UK" water hasn't yet led to any test samples yellowing. I have even exposed paper to car exhaust fumes as there is a remote possibility that during the weekend someone had parked near our building with an engine running.

It is perhaps worth recording that the paper that initially yellowed had not been printed, it was the unprinted border. However the yellowing did spread, over two days, into the printed part of the artwork where the ink appeared to play no part in impeding or adding to the yellowing.

I'm still hoping to identify the combination of factors that led to this event. Thanks for all of your inputs so far and please share any further experience or suggestions.