Trying to Identify the Author
I have been going through my printed material and found an article on "Collection Preservation" with my handwritten date of 08/14/2000. I'm reprinting it here because it may be of interest to all, but most of all I'm attempting to identify the author and give him proper credit. Searched the forum with negative results (but unable to get into the archives) maybe I copied it from the web somewhere. Shame on me for not documenting the author at the time. I've done some corrections in spelling also.
Thanks, CJ
" COLLECTION PRESERVATION
Articles in a collection are as diverse as the materials they are made from and as such a knowledge of the wide range of ways of looking after your collection is necessary not only for the preservation of history but for your own piece of mind.
Every article known to man will, given time, disintegrate due to conditions in the atmosphere, for example: iron will rust, paper and leather will rot and wood will worp(sic) -Warp-. These process will however be accelerated due to moisture in the atmosphere, or Humidity. It is this humidity level that should be controlled. Each individual type of material has different levels at which it should be kept. For instance, high levels of moisture will rust iron so it is advisable that metal objects be kept in 30% or lower relative humidity (the lower the better). Below is a list of materials and suggested ranges of humidity levels that items be stored in:
PAPER: 45%-60%
STRETCHED PAPER: 45%-60%
PHOTOGRAPHS,FILMS: 30%-45%
PARCHMENT: A STEADY STATE OF 55%
LEATHER: 45%-60%
FABRIC: 45%-60%
IVORY,BONE: 45%-60%
WOOD: 45%-60%
PAINTED WOOD: 45%-60%
FEATHERS: 45%-60%
PLASTICS: 45%-60%
GLASS: 45%-60%
METALS: LOWER THAN 30%
Having thus stated the limits of the materials does not mean you can push them. Once you have set a steady humidity level - KEEP IT! There should be no more than +/- 3%. That way the objects become accustomed to the atmosphere and stabilize. Humidity though is not an independent factor in the atmosphere, it is reliant upon temperature - as the temperature rises, so will the humidity. If you have a painting stored at 55% on Thursday but by lunch time Friday the humidity level has dropped to 47%, the moisture in the painting will have been evaporated in conjunction with the falling humidity level, this interim will shrink the painting. Continual changes of humidity will produce cracking and cause the paint to flake. If this is how your humidity system is set - you have wasted your time, effort, money and most of all your painting.
Such things as stone-wear, however, are generally resistant to environmental changes and as such do not have to be handled with quite so much care, climactic wise. Archeological finds though, should be kept as dry as possible to prevent swelling and ultimate cracking. It is wise to have them properly looked at by professionals before setting them on the mantle.
"That's all fine for Mr. Deep-Pockets", you might say "but what about me?" Well I say that if you are serious about collecting and preserving your collection, you will find a way. The best way of securing a constant humidity level is to store your collection in a display case which at the bottom has a deep draw and has connecting ventilation shafts between draw and case. In the draw what is known as 'silica gel' should be placed (any good art shop would have it or know where to get it - if not ring a national museum and speak to a curator about it). A good guide to use as to how much gel should be placed in the lower draw is ruffly(sic) -roughly- 20kg. of silica gel per cubic meter of display case. To condition the silica all that be needed is to follow the instructions given by the dealer. Added to this the case should have a few ventilation shafts that will allow fresh air through the case. Again a good guide to follow is one 5cm. diameter hole for every one cubic meter. Over these holes filters would have to be placed, filters such as fiber glass filters and activated carbon filters. This would only be necessary if the air surrounding the case was not conditioned, otherwise a simple fly screen would be all that is necessary. (to prevent the entry of insects that could harm the collection.)
As a collection will no doubt contain many varied types of materials it is best to condition the gel to try and suit all materials in the collection. For instance, if a collector of leather belts and metal buckles wished to make a display case to show both items, the problem he would face is that leather needs a constant humidity level of somewhere in the range of 45%-60%, where as the metals buckles, to resist corroding, require a humidity range of lower than 30% - how then is it managed? To suite the lower level of the leather and not place to much moisture in the air for the buckles, a relative humidity level of 47% might be suggested. (Recognized international standards for display settings are 20 +/- 2 degrees Celsius and 50% +/- 3% relative humidity.)
Having now dealt with humidity levels we must now focus on the actual display cases. Many collectors fall into a serious trap here by using Pine wood. Every material will produce chemical gases that react with other gases and materials, in some cases for the worse. Pine is one of the worst offenders. If building a display case from scratch, there are certain materials that will be of better value to your collection than others, materials such as:
TIMBER: aged, seasoned and dry timbers such as beech, birch or mahogany; (avoid direct contact between timber and collection as this may cause damage).
PAPER: acid free papers or tissue paper; unbleached cotton or linen; polyester; acrylic felt.
CONTACT CEMENTS: acrylic contact cements; animal glues; starch paste.
PLASTIC PRODUCTS: polyethylene; polypropylene; silicone; polycarbonate.
COATINGS (Paints, Stains and Varnishes): acrylic emulsion latex; liquid plastic - polyuerethane based; acrylic urethane.
GLASS.
If these materials are used in the makings of a display case then hopefully they should help the collection last that bit longer. Everybody knows the dangers of the sun and heat which dries out materials and of course contributes to fading. Remember to limit the amount of bright, direct light that your collection gets. If these basic rules are followed then hopefully you should have a collection with a greater life span than most other amateur collections. "
(Author unknown)
I have been going through my printed material and found an article on "Collection Preservation" with my handwritten date of 08/14/2000. I'm reprinting it here because it may be of interest to all, but most of all I'm attempting to identify the author and give him proper credit. Searched the forum with negative results (but unable to get into the archives) maybe I copied it from the web somewhere. Shame on me for not documenting the author at the time. I've done some corrections in spelling also.
Thanks, CJ
" COLLECTION PRESERVATION
Articles in a collection are as diverse as the materials they are made from and as such a knowledge of the wide range of ways of looking after your collection is necessary not only for the preservation of history but for your own piece of mind.
Every article known to man will, given time, disintegrate due to conditions in the atmosphere, for example: iron will rust, paper and leather will rot and wood will worp(sic) -Warp-. These process will however be accelerated due to moisture in the atmosphere, or Humidity. It is this humidity level that should be controlled. Each individual type of material has different levels at which it should be kept. For instance, high levels of moisture will rust iron so it is advisable that metal objects be kept in 30% or lower relative humidity (the lower the better). Below is a list of materials and suggested ranges of humidity levels that items be stored in:
PAPER: 45%-60%
STRETCHED PAPER: 45%-60%
PHOTOGRAPHS,FILMS: 30%-45%
PARCHMENT: A STEADY STATE OF 55%
LEATHER: 45%-60%
FABRIC: 45%-60%
IVORY,BONE: 45%-60%
WOOD: 45%-60%
PAINTED WOOD: 45%-60%
FEATHERS: 45%-60%
PLASTICS: 45%-60%
GLASS: 45%-60%
METALS: LOWER THAN 30%
Having thus stated the limits of the materials does not mean you can push them. Once you have set a steady humidity level - KEEP IT! There should be no more than +/- 3%. That way the objects become accustomed to the atmosphere and stabilize. Humidity though is not an independent factor in the atmosphere, it is reliant upon temperature - as the temperature rises, so will the humidity. If you have a painting stored at 55% on Thursday but by lunch time Friday the humidity level has dropped to 47%, the moisture in the painting will have been evaporated in conjunction with the falling humidity level, this interim will shrink the painting. Continual changes of humidity will produce cracking and cause the paint to flake. If this is how your humidity system is set - you have wasted your time, effort, money and most of all your painting.
Such things as stone-wear, however, are generally resistant to environmental changes and as such do not have to be handled with quite so much care, climactic wise. Archeological finds though, should be kept as dry as possible to prevent swelling and ultimate cracking. It is wise to have them properly looked at by professionals before setting them on the mantle.
"That's all fine for Mr. Deep-Pockets", you might say "but what about me?" Well I say that if you are serious about collecting and preserving your collection, you will find a way. The best way of securing a constant humidity level is to store your collection in a display case which at the bottom has a deep draw and has connecting ventilation shafts between draw and case. In the draw what is known as 'silica gel' should be placed (any good art shop would have it or know where to get it - if not ring a national museum and speak to a curator about it). A good guide to use as to how much gel should be placed in the lower draw is ruffly(sic) -roughly- 20kg. of silica gel per cubic meter of display case. To condition the silica all that be needed is to follow the instructions given by the dealer. Added to this the case should have a few ventilation shafts that will allow fresh air through the case. Again a good guide to follow is one 5cm. diameter hole for every one cubic meter. Over these holes filters would have to be placed, filters such as fiber glass filters and activated carbon filters. This would only be necessary if the air surrounding the case was not conditioned, otherwise a simple fly screen would be all that is necessary. (to prevent the entry of insects that could harm the collection.)
As a collection will no doubt contain many varied types of materials it is best to condition the gel to try and suit all materials in the collection. For instance, if a collector of leather belts and metal buckles wished to make a display case to show both items, the problem he would face is that leather needs a constant humidity level of somewhere in the range of 45%-60%, where as the metals buckles, to resist corroding, require a humidity range of lower than 30% - how then is it managed? To suite the lower level of the leather and not place to much moisture in the air for the buckles, a relative humidity level of 47% might be suggested. (Recognized international standards for display settings are 20 +/- 2 degrees Celsius and 50% +/- 3% relative humidity.)
Having now dealt with humidity levels we must now focus on the actual display cases. Many collectors fall into a serious trap here by using Pine wood. Every material will produce chemical gases that react with other gases and materials, in some cases for the worse. Pine is one of the worst offenders. If building a display case from scratch, there are certain materials that will be of better value to your collection than others, materials such as:
TIMBER: aged, seasoned and dry timbers such as beech, birch or mahogany; (avoid direct contact between timber and collection as this may cause damage).
PAPER: acid free papers or tissue paper; unbleached cotton or linen; polyester; acrylic felt.
CONTACT CEMENTS: acrylic contact cements; animal glues; starch paste.
PLASTIC PRODUCTS: polyethylene; polypropylene; silicone; polycarbonate.
COATINGS (Paints, Stains and Varnishes): acrylic emulsion latex; liquid plastic - polyuerethane based; acrylic urethane.
GLASS.
If these materials are used in the makings of a display case then hopefully they should help the collection last that bit longer. Everybody knows the dangers of the sun and heat which dries out materials and of course contributes to fading. Remember to limit the amount of bright, direct light that your collection gets. If these basic rules are followed then hopefully you should have a collection with a greater life span than most other amateur collections. "
(Author unknown)