[NHCOLL-L:1588] Specimen labels in ethanol: feedback; is Teslin suitable?

Wed May 1 22:45:00 EDT 2002

Many thanks to all on this list who responded to my request last week for information on appropriate media for producing alcohol-resistant specimen labels.  Since some responses were sent directly to me and others to the list, I include below a copy of all responses in case anyone else has an interest in what was said.

The main conclusion from the feedback was that laser printing labels onto paper or parchment is probably not a good option if they are to be immersed in ethanol long-term.  It may be that there are ways around this, for instance by baking the paper after printing, but it seems we should still be wary of the result given that the laser ink does not tightly bond with the fabric.

Popular alternatives mentioned by respondents were good old India ink or pencil (effective but laborious), thermal printers (very expensive) and inkjet printers fitted with cartridges filled with special alcohol-fast ink (potentially fairly cheap and effective).

One respondent mentioned a plastic paper product called Teslin.  It's available in A4 sheets which are designed specifically for use in laser printers (product SPID1000).  We have now procured a sample of this and are testing labels in alcohol.  The makers' web page (http://www.ppg.com/chm_teslin/whatsteslin/whatis.htm) implies that the product should be extremely resistant to many caustic or organic chemicals, so we're hopeful that this is the answer to our needs.

Has anyone had much experience with Teslin or similar products?  It sounds almost too good to be true but there must be some drawbacks.  I'd be happier about committing to this product if it had been widely tried and tested and found to be suitable, so would anyone care to comment?

Thanks

Simon Grove

----------------------------------------------------------
Initial inquiry and responses follow:

Hello

Does anyone know whether I am safe to assume that specimen labels printed by a laser printer will last (e.g. for years or decades) when immersed in spirit (70% ethanol)? I'm printing onto 100% cotton parchment rather than paper because I believe this is less likely to disintegrate, but that's neither here nor there if the ink might ultimately come off the labels anyway. If the answer is that labels won't last under these conditions, what are the practical and affordable alternatives?

Thanks

Simon Grove
Dr Simon J Grove, Biology and Conservation Branch, 
Division of Forest Research and Development
Forestry Tasmania, GPO Box 207, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Tel. 61 3 6233 8141.  Fax 61 3 6233 8292.  
Email:  simon.grove at forestrytas.com.au. 
Web address: http://forestrytas.com.au/ 

I reckon the answer is no - the ink will not last in alcohol. If cuticles of insects can't, then neither will ink! No-one can be certain though, as there were no such labels about decades ago. I have spoken to Dave Hollis (BNHM - psyllid guru) about this, he says don't do it no matter what, as he has seen too much alphabet soup in his time. We certainly don't for our spirit material. We use permanent water and fade proof black pigment ink on archival acid-free paper only. Either a Rotring pen, or the ones ANIC use (unipin at 0.1 size nib) but they still aren't as good as the Rotring, are OK. I just hand write everything - a bit more time consuming, but I'm happy because I know they will last.

K.L.Anderson
Entomology
AQIS - NAQS
PO Box 1054
Mareeba QLD 4880
Ph: 0740484736
Fax: 0740923593

Laser printed labels are not a good idea, at least in my opinion. Here at Cornell we went that route several years back and had very bad results. The "ink" from the laser jet would flake off the label. We found many jars with blank labels and a bunch of black stuff on the bottom of the jar! The tricky or confusing part about this that there was no way to predict which labels would fail. Some labels are still on the shelf 5 or 6 years later and are fine, some peeled off in days.

If you think about it from a printer's standpoint ( I was a pressman for years before I decided I liked museum work) there is no penetration of the laser "ink" into the paper. The "ink" just gets melted to the surface. This makes it easy for the ethanol to break the bond between the "ink" and paper. An impact printer actually presses the ink into the paper. We now use an Epson dot matrix printer with specially formulated ethanol resistant ink (developed at the Smithsonian Institution) for all of our labels. The results are good but the cost is a bit high. It costs $15 to have your own cartridge inked. Depending on the quantity of labels you print this might be an expensive alternative.

Charles M. Dardia
Collections Manager
Cornell Museum of Vertebrates 

We use a laser printer for our labels. We also include in each lot a piece of plastic embossing tape (the brightly colored piece of plastic with raised, white letters and an adhesive backing) with a catalog number. This provides some security that even if the ink falls off the labels, or the jar loses its alcohol and the specimen and label rot, the piece of plastic will endure.

After they are printed, we spray the labels with a clear acrylic spray, produced by Krylon. The idea is that this provides an extra layer of protection for the ink. Recently, however, we have become concerned that the use of this spray may have no affect at all on label durability and may, indeed, alter the alcohol solution. I have talked with a few curators and collections managers throughout our museum; everybody who sprays their labels with acrylic coating does so because "that's how it's always been done," and many are suspecting that this is a practice that should be ceased, but no one wants to make the first step.

Seeking some answers, I recently wrote to the manufacturers of Krylon. It's been a few weeks, and no response thus far... If anyone else out there sprays their labels, I would be interested in hearing your method, and the rationale for it.

-Susie Gardieff
Collections Assistant,
Division of Ichthyology
Florida Museum of Natural History
www.flmnh.ufl.edu 

You are wrong to assume that labels printed with a laser printer will hold up in alcohol. The process that a laser printer uses to heat the ink onto the paper does not hold up in an alcohol solution. Both the ink will fade and the lettering will begin to peel off the paper.

Alternatives - the cheap option is to stick with a dot matrix printer and get a ribbon which has been impregnated with alcohol resistant non-bleed ink (available from Automated Office Products - I have their details if you need them. They do not produce non-bleed cartridges for laser printers as far as I know). The other options is to spend about $4000 and get yourself a thermal transfer printer and label media from Alpha systems. This is the system we are using and we are very happy with it. It is a printer very similar to those that print the labels for your luggage at airports. The printer that we have operates at 300 dpi and is barcode compatible. The label media is a specially designed polyethylene sheeting and the lettering is thermally bonded with the this media by the printer. The labels are virtually indestructible - you cannot tear them, the ink is impossible to wipe off or even scratch off unless you try very hard and the media will last hundreds of years in alcohol.

Let me know if you would like me to send you a sample label and the details of Alpha systems and their products.

Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Natural History Museumf from the laser jet would flake off
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA
Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
Email: ABentley at ku.edu :

I was interested in this topic some time ago, and received responses to a post on the Acarology list. I am thankful to all who replied to my original message regarding printers and alcohol-proof labels. I've collated the responses below.

Upon certain recommendations, I purchased a Lexmark Z53 printer and print the labels on Byron Weston Linen Record Paper 1979. To be safe, I write the specimen or catalog number on the back of the label with a Micron Pigma pen.
_______________________________
Carl W. Dick
Systematics and Evolution Program
Department of Biological Sciences
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas 79409-3131
Tel: 806-742-3039
FAX: 806-742-2963

 From: Steven Krauth [mailto:krauth at plantpath.wisc.edu] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:03 AM
 To: Carl W. Dick
 Subject: Re: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

 Just a couple of suggestions.

 1. You might have better/more luck posting this to the entomology list entomo-l. There was some discussion of this subject a while back but I didn't archive messages.

 2. There is a list for museum people call nhcoll-l. They also deal with alcohol proof labels.

From: Roy A. Norton [mailto:ranorton at esf.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:17 AM
To: cdick at TTU.EDU 
Subject: RE: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

One trick with laser-labels is to use good (100% rag) paper, and to heat the label after it is printed, such that the carbon melts into the fibers. (it becomes shiny, easily seen under the stereo scope)ALso, try to avoid bending the label afterwards. After 10 years, I've had no chipping or other loss of printing on such labels, whereas nearly all that were un-melted are virtually useless through flaking.

The key is to set a temperature on your drying oven that is just hot enough to melt the carbon after 10-15 minutes, but no higher. (I'd tell you what that temperature is, but I only know the oven-setting number that I use). If left too long, the paper browns and becomes brittle. Also, I always put a collection code on the back of such labels in India ink or pencil)

 From: Rudy Jocque [mailto:jocque at africamuseum.be] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:29 AM
 To: cdick at TTACS.TTU.EDU; handre at africamuseum.be 
 Subject: Re: Fwd: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

Your request concerning alcohol-proof labels was passed to me by H. André. We are very much concerned by the issue as we have huge collections in alcohol.(appr. 200 000 samples). Since a few years we use "Teslin" in ordinary B/W laser printers. (before that we used Tyvek with a daisy-wheel which gave a perfect albeit large label, but these printers are out of use). Teslin is an synthetic substratum (manufactured by Dupont if I remember well) that resists alcohol and does not melt in the oven of laser printers and photocopiers! Yet a test in a colour laser printer gave bad results as this oven appeared to be hotter. The Teslin sheet did not melt but became so supple that it folded in the machine and clogged it. Since our trials do not yet exceed three years, we always add a hand-written (Indian ink on opaline paper, a system that has proved reliable for almost 80 years now) register number which refers to the unique database number where all the data concerning the sample are stored. You never know!

 Rudy JOCQUÉ

 From: Martin Hoyle [mailto:plxmh at nottingham.ac.uk] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:45 AM
 To: cdick at TTU.EDUseumf 
 Subject: Re: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

 Hi,
 I'm no mite expert, but I use pencil on paper. Pencil does not dissolve in alcohol.

 Martin Hoyle

 From: Margaret K. Thayer [mailto:mthayer at fieldmuseum.org] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:54 AM
 To: cdick at TTU.EDU 
 Subject: Re: labels in alcohol

What we've been using for the last year or so, and entomologists at the Canadian Museum of Nature for about 3 years, is Lexmark Z51 (CMN) or Z52 (FMNH) color inkjet printers. The current model in this series is the Z53, which uses the same cartridges. Within a few seconds after printing, the black ink is insoluble in water, alcohol (70-100% tested), and even acetone and ethyl acetate. (In contrast, the latter two instantly dissolve laser toner that is impervious to alcohol.) Choice of paper is also important, and our standard alcohol label paper, Byron Weston Linen Record Paper 1979 works well with these printers. (Dan Summers <dsummers at fieldmuseum.org could provide more details on the paper if you need them.) I don't like the Lexmark quite so well for pin labels (3.5 point, as opposed to 6 pt for alcohol), although at high resolution (1200 x 1200) it's pretty good. (Under magnification, the letters are not quite so well-formed as on a laser printer.) But for streblids, that's probably not an issue. The colored inks, unfortunately, are highly water soluble; it would be nice if we could print colored type labels.

 P.S. I think the Z53 sells for about $150 or maybe less.

 From: Hugo Fernandez [mailto:hugof at selway.umt.edu] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 10:03 AM
 To: cdick at TTU.EDU 
 Subject: Re: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

 Hi Carl: In my country (Argentina) my colleges use the old printers with ribbon in case (I don't know what is the correct name). Do you remember?, the old and slow printers and does work very good. If you need more information please contact to Eduardo Dominguez (mayfly at unt.edu.ar), but be patient because he is in vacations now until next monday, I guess.

 From: Ilya Smelyansky [mailto:ilya at ecoclub.nsu.ru] 
 Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 9:23 AM
 To: Carl W. Dick
 Subject: Re: Laser printers for alcohol "proof" labels

I have my personal experience only. I use a ordinary laser printer (HP LaserJet and others) and ordinary paper for laser printer (80 g/sq.m). Alcohol resistance of these labels is completely satisfactory for as least 4 yrs.

 Best wishes,
 Ilya Smelansky

-----Original Message-----
From: Marcia Revelez [mailto:mrevelez at ou.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 8:46 AM
To: cdick at TTU.EDU 
Subject: Labels in ethanol

I just wanted to pass along some information about a labeling system we are using here. It is totally awesome and I think answers all problems associated with laser inks and papers (TK tags are acidic). Here at SNOMNH, we have recently purchased a thermal printer, which produces labels on spunbonded polytheylene sheets. The ink is literally melted into the plastic "paper". Unfortunately, I think it's pretty expensive. However, the software/printer is compatible with almost any labeling software (Excel, Word, FileMaker, etc.). If you want, I can mail a sample to you. I'm sure you've probably already heard about this paper. A source for printers is

Alpha Systems, Inc.
13509 E. Boundary Rd.
Midlothian, VA 23112
800.849.9870
www.preservationtag.com 

Marcia A. Revelez
Curatorial Specialist, Mammals
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
University of Oklahoma
2401 Chautauqua
Norman, OK 73072
405-325-7988umf

No, that's not a safe assumption. Depends on the paper/parchment, depends on the printer (especially the amount of heat used by your printer), probably depends on the brand of toner. Some laser-printed material scrapes off very easily, even dry, and even more easily when wet. Some laser-printed material literally falls right off the page in ethanol.

Robin K Panza
Section of Birds, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
4400 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA
phone: 412-622-3255
fax: 412-622-8837
panzar at carnegiemuseums.org 

The short answer to this question is that no, there is no way to make permanent labels with a laser printer. This is due to the limitations of the printing technology. When you write with a technical pen (e.g., a Rapidograph) the ink goes on as a fluid and bonds with the paper fibers. By contrast, a laser printer deposits a film of toner particles on the surface of the paper and then bakes them on. A good, clean machine using high heat and pressure with a high quality toner matched to the paper quality will make a better, longer lasting laser copy, but even the better laser print job is not permanent, because it is still letters sitting on top of the paper, not ink in the paper fibers. The letters are prone to abrasion and chemical interference with their adhesion to the paper. 

An inkjet printer is a little better, in that it does apply ink in a fluid form. The limitations of this process are the same as those you encounter with disposable pens--the ink is not just ink. A good "India" ink (such as Higgins T-100 Drafting Film Ink) is essentially carbon particles in water. Inkjet ink, as well as disposable pen ink, has other stuff in it--surfactants, lubricants, all sorts of stuff that makes it less than archival.

Paper quality plays a significant role in the label quality, too, but even a good paper will not save a bad ink or printing process. I do not recommend the use of Resistal paper for labels. Even though it is fluid-resistant, it is very acidic (pH of 4.5 to 5.2, due to its melamine coating--a formaldehyde polymer). 

I do not recommend the use of any disposable pens, including the new disposable Koh-i-nor pens, either. No disposable pen has a good, archival quality ink. Again, some of these pens are better than others, none are as good as they should be to be archival. 

If you want a permanent label, you have two choices with current technology:

1. Use a good technical pen with a stable, archival ink, such as Higgins T-100 Drafting Film ink, and a good quality, 100% rag acid-free paper or spunbonded polyethylene stock.

2. Use a thermal printer, which uses a technology similar to a laser printer except it has a carbon particle ribbon and the letters are baked into a spunbonded polyethylene stock. This is the most permanent label system for fluid preserved specimens currently available.

Some useful references for all of this are:

Hawks, C.A. and S.L. Williams. 1986. Care of specimen labels in vertebrate research collections. Pp. 105-108 in Waddington, J. and D.M. Rudkin (eds.). Proceedings of the 1985 Workshop on Care and Maintenance of Natural History Collections. Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publications, Royal Ontario Museum. v + 121 pp.

Williams, S.L and C.A. Hawks. 1986. Inks for documentation in vertebrate research collections. Curator 29(2):93-108.

Williams, S.L. and C.A. Hawks. 1988. A note on "Inks..." Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Newsletter 2(1):1.

Thermal Printers
Alpha Systems, Inc.
13509 E. Boundary Road
Midlothian, VA 23112
800-849-9870
http://www.preservationtag.com 

John E. Simmons
Collection Manager, Natural History Museum and
Coordinator, Historical Administration and Museum Studies Program
University of Kansas
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561
Phone 785-864-4508
FAX 785-864-5335
jsimmons at ku.edu 

`'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,

Dr Simon J Grove, Biology and Conservation Branch, 
Division of Forest Research and Development
Forestry Tasmania, GPO Box 207, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Tel. 61 3 6233 8141.  Fax 61 3 6233 8292.  
Email:  simon.grove at forestrytas.com.au. 
Web address: http://forestrytas.com.au/ 