How do You Fix This One

[Ian Goodman]

Some of you may have come across this before and know the remedy?

A customer of mine had a rather large map of the world that was laminated in gloss and wanted a navy blue matt which had to be joined on the short side as well as the long side, the dimensions are 1.73metres x 1.35metres wide.

The matt was 160mm top and sides and 195 mm bottom, and there is no glass covering the image.

The matt was stuck to the foamcore with 3 runs of atg tape and now the matt is lifting from the image not all over but at the top and one side.

I had thought of brushing some PVA glue behind the lifting parts of the matt and see what happens?

Is there another method of stopping this from happening?

thank you

[Bill Henry]

Most Adhesive Transfer Tape has a pretty weak tack, so it’s not too surprising that it is losing its grip, so to speak, especially on such a smooth surface as a laminate.

I might suggest that you try lifting the mat (mount) as much as you can, clear out as much of the old ATG as you can, then very lightly sand the lamination under the mat. That should give the map a little “tooth”. Clean the sanded area with lighter fluid (naphtha) to get rid of the grit and residual oils, and give another shot at reapplying the ATG.

Something like PMA has a stronger bond, but chances are if you apply PMA or some other strong adhesive and some other areas of the mount begin to lift, you won’t be able to get under the mount as easily to do another repair.

[Ian Goodman]

Thank you Bill for your quick reply I appreciate your suggestions.

The image is hanging in a Travel Shop and I will be there in a day or so so to put your suggestion to work so I will post the results on this forum after that.

I expect that I should have a good story to tell.