[Nhcoll-l] Removing masking tape from rocks and minerals

[Pedro A. Viegas]

Dear Katie

 Sounds like a little treasure you got there.

 It will all depend on the rock/mineral/fossils you have in that collection
- a picture always helps to make a better decision on how to approach any
specimen.

  If it is just "regular masking tape" (the yellow, paper based tape) then
it should be fairly easy, once again it will depend on the specimens you
have.

 If it is that tape, then I would suggest to initially, gently swab the
tape with ethanol, this will moisten the tape, making it less brittle and
dry as it probably is.
 After you can start on one end to with very gentle swabbing dabs of
ethanol and gently peeling the tape. The ethanol should dissolve the glue
which you can remove with the swab+ethanol.

 If the glue does not dissolve after this first test, then you can try the
same thing but with acetone, but once again its all specimen dependent.

 I removed very old and dry tape from different specimens (mainly fossils)
with the swab+ethanol and scrapping technique if you are delicate it works
great. In some the initial gently soaking was enough to make the tape peel
right off.



 Hope it helps,

ps: take a pic of the before and after.


  Best wishes


Pedro A Viegas
Natural History Curator & Conservator

paleomail at gmail.com
+44(0)7587051425

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