[NHCOLL-L:2478] RE: Plant/insect specimen problem

[Tony Irwin]

Rhea -

Removal of an unknown glue can be difficult and time-consuming. The results
may also be very disappointing! So, unless the specimens are particularly
special, I would suggest putting them to one side and prepare some *fresh*
material for study. It would be a shame to discourage students from studying
whole organisms, if they are introduced to specimens that look as though
someone's covered them with glue then tried to clean it off again!

Larger specimens such as reptiles which are more difficult to replace are a
different matter, and it may be worth trying to carefully remove coatings
with solvents (even paint-stripper), but the ease of preparing new insect
and plant specimens means that cleaning them is seldom cost-efficient.

Tony Irwin

Dr A.G.Irwin, Natural History Department, Castle Museum Study Centre,
Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ, England.
Tel:+44 1603 493642. E-mail: tony.irwin at btinternet.com

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu]On Behalf Of Rhea Gavounas
Sent: 18 November 2004 18:24
To: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:2477] Plant/insect specimen problem


Hello all,

I am wondering if anyone has had success in removing glue from insect or
plant
specimens.  Many of our specimens were coated with some form of glue
(possibly
shellac or a cyanoacrylate) that has made viewing the specimens very
difficult.  I have also noticed that some of the specimens have deteriorated
beneath the glue.  Before I reinvent the wheel, I was wondering if anyone
might have some suggestions about removal products or techniques that have
worked in the past.

Thank you sincerely for your assistance.

Rhea Gavounas
Graduate Assistant
University of Colorado

--
"The real art of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing
with new eyes."     -Marcel Proust