Terri asked that I provide a quick list of the materials I talked about during my super fast intro into mount making. I also think a quick recap would be useful. I zoomed through a lot of stuff, and likely forgot to tell you even more.
When making mounts or doing anything with the goal of preventive preservation, it is always a good idea to do the simplest things first. I've noticed that for beginners, there can be a tendency to over engineer mounts (I am totally guilty of this!). Your primary objective is to make sure that the object is well-supported while still making it visible. Ideally, the mount should be as unobtrusive as possible.
When you sit down to make a mount for an object, I find that it is best to start with a good analysis of the object's characteristics. For example: if it is a basket, is it twined or coiled (this will be one determination of how fragile it is)? What is it's condition? And most importantly are there any factors at play that can cause deterioration? Most of the time gravity is my biggest concern. The use of muslin or foam "snakes" is usually enough to support most baskets and keep them from slumping or breaking over time.
If a more complex mount is needed, then the National Park Services Conserve-O-grams are an amazing resource. Often you don't need to invent a mount; someone else has already thought through the process for you.
The materials I showed you or talked about include:
Muslin
Orvus
Polyester fiberfill (cotton fluff)
Archival (food grade) gusseted bags
Tyvek
Volara
Archival Polyethylene
Backer Rod
"Blue Board" /AKA Archival corrugated board
Abaca Tissue
Buffered/Unbuffered Tissue
Hot Knife
More information can be found in this University of New Mexico publication and at the North Carolina Connecting to Collections Blog.
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