What is dry mounting?
Dry mounting is a process which flattens and permanently mounts artwork to the backing board. The ‘dry’ part of the term means that no risky wet adhesives are used in the mounting process. Instead, a sheet of dry adhesive material is placed between the artwork and the backing board. Then both are placed into a large vacuum press which flattens the artwork as it heats the adhesive to cause a permanent bond to the backing board. Our heat/vacuum dry mount presses can mount artwork as large as 40″ x 60″.
Dry mounting serves two purposes:
- One is to flatten the artwork. Paper artwork can easily become wrinkled from handling. Dry mounting will remove virtually all wrinkling from damaged artwork. Even sharp crinkles which have broken the fibers of the paper artwork will be flattened out (although you may still see a line where the fibers were permanently damaged.)
- Second is to keep the artwork flattened, regardless of the environment. Un-mounted artwork will expand and contract over time, depending on heat and humidity. These expansions and contractions can translate into undesirable undulations and bowing of the artwork within the frame. A dry mounted piece of artwork will remain flat, regardless of changes in the surrounding environment.