Museum Wax
It’s stickier and firmer than Play-Doh and comes off easier than Poster Putty. A little pinch of museum wax on the back of a frame stabilizes it, and holds its position firmly against a wall. Level your artwork and it’ll stay level. If you rotate works on display at home, pull the framed art off the wall, remove the wax, and then reuse it on the next piece you hang. It’s handy for gently tethering display pieces to shelves, too.
I first found out about this stuff from friends who did art-handling work in museums, where it is, in fact, used. Outside of the galleries, it’s also a prime tool in the museum’s photo studio. While on staff photographing artwork from the permanent collection of a Southern California museum, I was taught to use museum wax for shooting still-life work: Museum wax is just right for table-top photography of smaller objects, particularly to hold the object being photographed to its out-of-view support. Small dabs of museum wax are easily positioned to remain unnoticeable, and wipe clean off ceramic and glass surfaces without the need for solvents. It's a key tool for food stylists, too.
A little of this stuff goes a long way. It is reusable, and doesn’t seem to dry out or lose it’s tackiness. I still have a clump I was given many years ago.
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Quakehold
Favorite (15)
Elaine
The same company also makes Quakehold museum gel, or earthquake gel, which is for holding items to shelves. It's the best thing ever for a house full of fragile objects and cats or children. Every pretty thing on a shelf in my place is secured with Quakehold gel, and the cat can no longer knock anything over.
thom
I do not know about Museum Wax but Quakehold will not work in the vertical position. It's fine for (and I use it) securing things to a shelf but will turn oily and run down the wall.
Norma
My mother grew up with California earthquakes. She is adamant about sticking figurines to shelves and locking cabinet doors. Museum wax is perfect for this purpose.
Bern
Wow, I think I will try the 'Museum Wax' for the church walls. It is difficult to get creative for special occasions when you are limited to invisible strings.
Susan
QuakeHold is the company that makes Museum Wax, Museum Gel, and Museum Putty. These products are sometimes marketed/packaged with the QuakeHold name included, sometimes as 'Collectors Hold', sometimes just as Museum Wax/Gel/Putty. (And QuakeHold isn't the official company name, it's actually Ready America, formerly known as Trevco and Marlyco.)
Any of those different name variations are all the same useful products, the only difference that matters is between the Wax, Gel, and Putty formulations. An art gallery has provided a detailed comparison between the features/uses of the Wax, Gel, and Putty, at http://www.martenarts.ca/pdf/misc/Museum.pdf
The one that's best for vertical (wall) use is the Putty.
They are sold in hardware stores in prime earthquake areas of the US, and are also available on amazon.com, and from specialty online stores such as sculpt.com, ceramicrestorations.com, detailsart.com, ashleydistributors.com, safetystore.com, safetycentral.com, and shopreadyamerica.com