A foam core board or foam board is a tough, lightweight, and readily cut material that may be easily sliced with either a sharp craft knife or a picture framing mat cutter.
It’s a popular choice for mounting photographs and prints. It’s also used as a backing in picture frames.
Foamboard may be molded into any form and used for interior design and architectural modeling.
What is Foam Board Made Of?
The inner layer is typically made of polystyrene or polyurethane foam, which is sandwiched between two outers facing on each side of either a white clay-coated paper, cotton archival paper, or standard brown Kraft paper.
The acid-free alpha-cellulose clad boards are ideal for picture framing since they have a longer lifespan and do not leach acids into the works of art.
Between the foam board and the original artwork, a cotton rag board or alpha-cellulose board barrier should be used in high-end conservation framing.
Monsanto produced foam core board in 1/8 inch (3 mm) and 3/16 inch (5 mm) thicknesses since 1957 under the brand name of Fome-Core.
It has grown to be a popular backdrop for picture framing, with archival-quality variants from several makers.
A variety of thicknesses ranging from 3mm to 10mm are generally accessible, with a 20mm variant available for building big displays and art mounting uses.
Other foam-cored materials include those with solid styrene or other rigid plastic cladding. These are useful for signage and other applications where stiffness is required. These boards are most often cut using a panel saw.
Some boards are designed with aluminum facing for mounting high-gloss photographs, while others are produced with fire-retardants for museum applications.
Clay-coated Foamcore does not take certain paints and adhesives, such as super glue. The foam center is susceptible to solvent degradation in some paints and glues, resulting in weakness and foamboard structural failure.
Most water-based glues are not suitable for framing because they can cause the fibers in the outer layers to curl after drying, causing warping.
Foam Board Uses
If you want to “dry mount” your prints and photographs, use our pre-coated self-adhesive foamboard or a pair of double-sided adhesive sheets.
When it comes to mounting certain objects, self-adhesive foam boards might be inflexible. Please have a look at this video on how to mount a photo using foamboard if you want to learn more about it.
After you’ve attached your image or print to self-adhesive foamboard, allow for curing time while keeping the mounted work flat to ensure that it doesn’t warp before gluing the picture together in a picture frame.
For short-term applications, a simple foam board is sufficient. After that, re-positionable spray adhesive may be used on one of the surfaces, either the back of the image or the face of the board.
Foam board is a versatile material that can be used for a variety of purposes. It is often used in the crafting and advertising industries, but it has also found use in the medical field and as insulation.
Takeaway
In general, foam board is a good option when you need something lightweight that can be easily cut or shaped.
Have you ever used foamboard? What did you use it for? Let us know in the comments below!
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