[Nhcoll-l] Acid-Free Tissue Recommendations

[Hawks, Catharine]

I strongly concur with the advice from John and Greg. One caveat to keep in mind is that if you are packing skins with furs or feathers, avoid alkaline-buffered tissues (make sur the tissue is pH-neutral). As John notes, things may end up in the packing materials much longer that planned. Prolonged contact with an alkali can increase the rate of oxidation of pigments in hair and feathers.

Cathy
_______________________________
Catharine Hawks
Museum Conservator
National Museum of Natural History, MRC 107
NHB M85-J
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Office 202.633.0835
Conservation 202.633.4041
Cell (work) 202.701.8458
Cell (pers) 703.200.4370



From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2015 12:34 PM
To: Gregory Schneider
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Acid-Free Tissue Recommendations

Greg's suggestion is excellent. A few other vendors of conservation supplies carry similar materials as well.
The problem with using materials such as toilet tissue is that there is no guarantee when the loan will be unpacked and the bad packing materials discarded. I have seen dozens and dozens of examples of museum specimens packed with "temporary" materials that turned into long-term storage materials due to oversight, accident, or ignorance, any one of which carries the same potential for specimen damage. For example, I have spent the last few years helping unpack specimens that were "temporarily" packed with PVC dry cleaner bags 10 years ago--the bags are now turning yellow and degrading. At the time the specimens were packed, probably no one thought it would be ten years before they were unpacked.
Whether you are packing specimens for shipment of preparing to put specimens into the collection, only stable, inert materials should be used. In almost any collection you can find examples of offgassing plastic, deteriorating rubber bands, acidic paper, and all sorts of other "temporary" materials that inadvertently became long-term, often to the detriment of the specimen.
--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
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On Sun, Sep 27, 2015 at 12:14 PM, Gregory Schneider <ges at umich.edu<mailto:ges at umich.edu>> wrote:
probably spun polyester batting or tissue - gaylord has it

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On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Cody Thompson <cwthomp at umich.edu<mailto:cwthomp at umich.edu>> wrote:
Hello all:

The UMMZ Mammal Division is beginning our packing process for our relocation.  Does anyone have any recommendations for acid-free tissue that could be used to pack skulls and skeletons in vials?  We typically would use toilet tissue for packing loans, but we would prefer to leave the tissue in the vial until the specimens are accessed again for research, loans, etc.  We are not planning to wrap the specimens individually as we would for loans; rather, we plan to use the tissue to stabilize the material in the vial for transport.  Therefore, we need a product that has the flexibility of toilet tissue and could potentially be in the vial for years.  Anyhow, I would appreciate any suggestions!

Thank you,
Cody

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Assistant Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
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Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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-Aldo Leopold

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--
Greg Schneider
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
Museum of Zoology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079
734 647 1927     734 763 4080 (FAX)

734 763 0740 (Biodiversity Research Center at Varsity Drive)
ges at umich.edu<mailto:ges at umich.edu>



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