Fold Removal

[stewart boyle]

Has anybody ever tried "alternative" experiments to reduce or remove folds in posters.
It would seem at the moment only two options are open to collectors,Linen backing or flat storage.
The process of linen backing from my limted knowledge includes a "wet" bath process to ease fold lines.
Now,im not proposing hosing down your paper,but has steam ever played a part in fold line  reduction?

Stew

[CSM]

The problem with wetting a poster (which is what steaming would be essentially) is that the paper changes - in my experience it becomes hard and far less pliable

But you could get the fold lines out by this method (I have reduced wrinkles significantly by wetting a poster but I was left with paper that was far more brittle once it dried)

[stewart boyle]

Thanks Angelo,i feared that the back end might hold up,but the image side may suffer from excess wrinkling if too harsh a humidity is endured. Would the old mattress method fair any better.
It wouldn`t be too hard to get two sheets of hardboard and applying pressure for a while? no?

Stew

[supraman079]

The problem with wetting a poster (which is what steaming would be essentially) is that the paper changes - in my experience it becomes hard and far less pliable

But you could get the fold lines out by this method (I have reduced wrinkles significantly by wetting a poster but I was left with paper that was far more brittle once it dried)

So it sounds like with steaming you speed up the aging process. Are there water properties in the ink that evaporate as well causing this brittle response? I'm pretty sure oil doesn't evaporate. Something is being lost in the process.

How much wrinkle reduction is done by using a luke warm iron and no water on the poster? Finding the point in which the paper won't burn up but still iron out.

[stewart boyle]

Great point Chad,one would assume there would be a balancing point between just right and too much.

Stew

[MoviePosterBid.com]

#1 when you bath paper, you essentially alter the paper's properties.

#2 my chosen way of decreasing fold tension is flat stoarge, and it takes a long time.. that's just the way it is.

#3 there is an alternate solution to removing folds. Get a pair of scissors and neatly cut that section of paper from the poster. You can discard the removed sections after excission.. everything left should be flat

 

[stewart boyle]

Option 3 is intriguing. Perhaps you could show us what that involves by using one of your posters. :-)

Stew

[CSM]

Option 3 is intriguing. Perhaps you could show us what that involves by using one of your posters. :-)

Stew

Rich's psychiatrist has advised him not to use scissors under any circumstances...

[Harry Caul]

The problem with wetting a poster (which is what steaming would be essentially) is that the paper changes - in my experience it becomes hard and far less pliable

But you could get the fold lines out by this method (I have reduced wrinkles significantly by wetting a poster but I was left with paper that was far more brittle once it dried)

What about light heat with no water?  I'm sure lots of heat would be bad, but I'm curious if just a bit in the presence of a heavy weight (i.e. iron) would be ok?  Would it also have a brittling effect on the paper?  Or might it mobilize acids or something (speeding up tanning)?  This is just wild speculation, but I would be curious to know the long term impacts.

I remember Bruce selling a pre-awards Lawrence of Arabia that was described as having had the folds professionally flattened without being mounted.  I've always been curious as to what that process involved...

Do you remember that particular 1-sheet Bruce?

[stewart boyle]

Heres a link for you guys to read thru.
Towards the end it goes to mention lamintaing the poster!! but steps 1 to 3 seem reasonable.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6714492_remove-creases-glossy-poster.html

Stew

[Dr Hackenbush]

What about light heat with no water?  I'm sure lots of heat would be bad, but I'm curious if just a bit in the presence of a heavy weight (i.e. iron) would be ok?  Would it also have a brittling effect on the paper?  Or might it mobilize acids or something (speeding up tanning)?  This is just wild speculation, but I would be curious to know the long term impacts.

I remember Bruce selling a pre-awards Lawrence of Arabia that was described as having had the folds professionally flattened without being mounted.  I've always been curious as to what that process involved...

Do you remember that particular 1-sheet Bruce?

There's a poster in the current HA Sig auction that describes it being pressed with no other work done to it.  I know it's prevalent in comics, but had no idea it could be done to MP.

[Harry Caul]

I guess my question is whether it is simply pressed with weight, or if it was something done over a shorter period of time by a restorer using some combination of heat/water/weight/etc...?

[Dr Hackenbush]

With comics it's a combination of moisture,humidity, and pressure.  It may be different for MP as comics are (or were) printed on newsprint

[MoviePosterBid.com]

exposing paper to heat, water or chemicals is a negative in any measure. Linenbackers (or good linenbackers) can do it because they also wash and if neccessary introduce buffering agents to minimize molecular interference

my suggestion to anyone who collects posters that have folds and don't like them: get over it

Folds are the natural state. If you don't like them, lay your posters flat and after many months the folds will for the most part disappear. If the folds are such a turn off that you can't handle it - either stop collecting folded posters of any kind of get them all linenbacked and restored (which I feel is really getting radical).

[Harry Caul]

exposing paper to heat, water or chemicals is a negative in any measure. Linenbackers (or good linenbackers) can do it because they also wash and if neccessary introduce buffering agents to minimize molecular interference

Well, the question in my mind whether or not a professional can do it without backing the poster.  If it was done to a $11K LAB 1-sheet I would like to think the restorer/owner knew what they were doing. 

[MoviePosterBid.com]

yes Harry you can, but again - applying heat, water, chemicals, sunlight etc are all things that alter the molecular properties of paper in some way

the best solution is to do nothing. Leave them alone. It has folds.. so ferkin what!
if it irritates your eye so much to have a fold.. don't collect folded posters

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Heres a link for you guys to read thru.
Towards the end it goes to mention lamintaing the poster!! but steps 1 to 3 seem reasonable.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6714492_remove-creases-glossy-poster.html

Stew

"Fold the poster gently in the opposite direction of the crease"

No, no, no, no! That will accentuate the fold lines - I learned that the hard way when I f*&$ed up a couple of posters doing that!

[Bruce]

I read a cool scientific study once where scientists admit they have no clue why paper can be rolled for a minute, and lose all "memory" of it, but leave it rolled for a few hours and it starts to "remember" the roll. Just as odd, leave it flat under weight for a few days and it keeps it "memory", but leave it for a couple of months, and it loses its "memory" again!

I did not see it done, but here is almost surely how the Lawrence was "pressed". You put it in a drymount machine, but put paper and/or towels on each side, and set it to a very low heat for a very short time, and the folds greatly "relax" and practically disappear.

If you think it is strange that a $10K LOA was subjected to this, know that it was also done to the $97,000 King Kong one-sheet I auctioned at Christie's, which was the closest thing to a mint poster I could ever imagine!

Bruce

[Harry Caul]

Thanks Bruce. That is exactly the type of detail I was hoping for.

Rich, folds don't bother me... But waves in framed posters do. I don't know exactly why it happens, but my unbacked, folded posters defintely seem more susceptible to them. I was thinking it might be due to the folds allowing for more space between the plexiglas and the backing... which would then expose it to more humidity fluctuations. I do my best to control moisture levels, but despite my best efforts my house still fluctuates between about 30-65% humidity.

I'm storing my folded posters flat now but I don't want to have to wait years before I can frame them. I'm not sure I would ever attempt to flatten them as described here but it is nice to know it is an option.

[kovacs01]

I wonder if you could pull off what Bruce describes with 2 sheets of glass, an electric blanket, and a homemade roller made out of a length of 18" diameter PVC pipe full of concrete?  I'm not sure if the electric blanket would provide enough heat, but the one I have right here will get pretty damn hot on the high setting.

[CSM]

I wonder if you could pull off what Bruce describes with 2 sheets of glass, an electric blanket, and a homemade roller made out of a length of 18" diameter PVC pipe full of concrete?  I'm not sure if the electric blanket would provide enough heat, but the one I have right here will get pretty damn hot on the high setting.

I wouldn't use glass for this.  The poster could easily adhere to it with heat or moisture!

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Old school fold removal:

[Neo]

That's a lot of books, Mel.  Do you read them or did you buy them just for flattening posters?   

One method that I used for flattening folded posters is to take two big pieces of cardboard and sandwich the poster in between them, put a few pieces of tape on the outside of the cardboard to prevent them from shifting, and then put the pieces of cardboard under the bed you sleep in (assuming you sleep in a bed)  , and check it every few days to make sure the cardboard has not shifted and everything is good.  I did that on this beaute, a poster that was only available for Game Stop pre-orders of The Lost and Damned, an expansion of Grand Theft Auto IV.  The method definitely flattened the poster, but it may have added some "wear" to a couple of the fold lines, so I would recommend trying this method on a poster that is not  too expensive first.

 

Now I have an Avatar lenticular that I use to flatten out posters (since I have not bought a lightbox) and it works great on posters that are about the size of a one sheet.     I used the "Avatar lenticular" method on these beautes, a few more posters for Grand Theft Auto IV, and there was no extra fold wear, but since the Avatar lenticular does not weigh 215 pounds, they did not get nearly as flat as the others, so I will probably use the cardboard sandwich method on these also. 

[brude]

Jeezum Crow, that's a lotta GTAuto posters....very nice....

                                                           

[Neo]

Jeezum Crow, that's a lotta GTAuto posters....very nice....

                                                           

Thank you, sir.  It is definitely a masterpiece of a game.  Your gifs never disappoint.