[BKARTS] Deacidification Solution

["Talas Inc." <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I myself am not a conservator, but may have a little more information to 
contribute on the subject than I have thus far.

The first thing to really understand is that deacidification is not a 
restorative process.  It will not turn a paper back to its original 
color, make it less brittle and easy to handle.  The buffering agent 
that is deposited during the deacidification process is there to help 
balance the acidity of the paper and hopefully slow down the 
deterioration of the paper.  Color photographs should be used with 
unbuffered materials, but buffering agents as far as I understand are 
compatible with most types of black and white photos. 

In terms of albums made of acidic paper, it is best to remove the photos 
from this environment rather than trying to deacidifiy the paper on 
which they are housed.  A typical type of paper that we sell for albums 
should you want to re mount them would be Stonehenge paper.  This is a 
100% cotton paper 250gm weight which is a suitable weight for mounting 
photographs to.  Should you want to frame them then our Rising museum 
mounting board would be the appropriate choice once they have been 
removed.  If you did want to keep the photos in the original album I 
would suggest putting each photo into a Mylar sleeve before returning 
them to the album to prevent it from further acid deterioration.

Regards,
Aaron Salik
Talas
20 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-219-0770 Phone
212-219-0735 Fax
http://talasonline.com

            ***********************************************
Now Online - The Bonefolder, Vol. 2, No. 1 at <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
                                   
            For all your subscription questions, go to the
                     Book_Arts-L FAQ and Archive.
                                   
         See <http://www.philobiblon.com> for full information
            ***********************************************