Mounting large giclée prints can be a sticky issue. Large size usually means big mounting costs. But you can stretch your mounting dollars by using contact cement.
The best type of mounting in my opinion is hot-rolled lamination with a thick film (6-mil or more). But there are size limitations and it is expensive as hell.
Then there's 3-M Repositionable Mounting Tissue which I discuss in another blog. It is tricky to work with and also very expensive. Moreover the word 'repositionable' is code language for 'doesn't stick very well'.
That brings us to the subject of this blog, using LePage Contact Cement and similar brush-on / roll-on liquid adhesives. LePage is supposedly water soluble which we like at Vashon Island Imaging because we are located on an island and our aquifer is precious (as is all water). We are surrounded by Nature here and hate to use solvents or chemicals of any type. However giclées have to be coated with something to be protected and they need to be mounted so some chemistry is inevitable. 'Supposedly' is code language for 'not really'. But we'll come to that later.
Before you begin, understand that it is very unlikely that your mounted giclée will have a totally flat and smooth surface if you use liquid contact cement. It doesn't level well so brush and roller stokes are unavoidable. The best you can do it to work the strokes with the picture, like carving with the grain instead of against it. You could spray it... but you'd have to clean the sprayer with acetone later (yikes!).
If total smoothness is not an issue, or you want to save a bundle of bucks, or you have an industrial strength application like an outdoor sign or display, then LePage Contact Cement is a good adhesive solution. (Can't resist those puns, sorry.)
On some prepared wood-product surfaces the stuff doesn't want to stick. It beads up like water on a waxed car and you really have to work it in with your brush as it starts to set-up. The result looks like the picture below.
After the first coat is dry you can go over it with a second coat but it won't buy you anything really and cause even more nits to pluck out with tweezers. Nits are bits of this and that, mostly little balls of the glue itself that magically appear especially as you keep working the glue after it has started curing.
Apply the glue as evenly as you can to both surfaces, the giclée and the mounting substrate. Let the adhesive dry thoroughly... a few hours at least and overnight if possible. At the studio here we have wood-stove heating and ceiling fans which really help drying in the cooler months. In the warmer ones we dry things outside if the air is calm and the humidity low enough. Here in Seattle that hasn't been very often this year.
Use a slip sheet when preparing to bond the giclée to the mounting substrate. Bonding is quick and fast when the two adhesive surfaces touch each other... then the only way to separate them is with LePage Contact Cement Cleaner which if it isn't acetone is a good imitation... nasty stuff (use gloves). Keep the slip sheet between the two adhesive surfaces while positioning the giclée. Carefully reveal 1/4 inch of the giclée to the substrate. Touch it with your gloved fingertips gently and smooth it from the center out. If the alignment is OK then reveal a little more and repeat. Don't be tempted to pull the slip sheet... one ripple is all you need to spoil your day and the giclée.
After the slip sheet is out check to see that it has no nits on it and place it over the giclée then rub hard all over with your fist. The slip sheet prevents any scuffing or rubbing marks to show. (Remember the giclée is still un-coated and un-protected.) Follow the fist-rub with a further pressing using a small, hard roller. Now the giclée is ready for coating.
The coating system we use here at Vashon Island Imaging is a liquid laminate called Clear Shield. (We'll be trying out the Moab line of liquid laminates in the near future and will be reporting on that in a future blog.) The laminate liquid is aqueous and if you apply too much the giclée may start to 'bubble' or otherwise become unglued. A few thin coats is better than one or two thick ones because you don't want to saturate the giclée.
For outdoor applications we apply a few coats of Golden MSP Varnish to seal the giclée and substrate with a non-aqueous coating that makes it doubly water resistant.
When the final coating is thoroughly dried re-rolling is a good idea as the giclée was significantly moistened during the coating procedures.
Like anything else there's a learning curve attached even to this seemingly brainless mounting method. Try a few tests and don't get discouraged. With a little 'stick-to-it-tivity' you'll soon bond to this inexpensive and effective solution for mounting large-sized giclée prints.
There are many ways to mount and display giclées discussed in Giclée Prepress - The Art of Giclée (ISBN 9780-9865-75112). It's the only book about printing written by a printer... moi.
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