[NHCOLL-L:5149] RE: fixing yoda figurine

[Pellegrini, Rodrigo]

I forgot to add:

If the vinyl hasn't cracked yet, there probably is some plasticizer still left in there. What older literature suggests is to store the degrading plastic toy in a well ventilated-area (for example in a box, but without the box lid fully on) to prevent the plasticizer from getting on other things, and to allow it to go in the air and be taken out of the room (also to keep the plasticizer from collecting on the surface of the degrading piece IIRC). Yvonne Shashoua recommended the opposite for PVC, explaining that good ventilation continues to remove the plasticizer until it is all gone. She recommended a closed (airtight?) microenvironment to reduce the rate of plasticizer migration into the air (assuming the degrading piece was isolated from other pieces/parts). I wish I had a copy of the book to give you a more exact quote, but I read a library copy.

Rod


Rodrigo Pellegrini
Registrar, Natural History Bureau
New Jersey State Museum
PO Box 530
Trenton, NJ 08625-0530
USA
 
Rodrigo.Pellegrini at sos.state.nj.us

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of malcolm McCallum
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 7:55 PM
To: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:5147] fixing yoda figurine

Since many of you deal with this sort of thing, My wife has a life-sized Yoda figurine.  The face is made out of some kind of vinyl which is dried and near cracking.  Is there anything we can do to "save" or "restore" the little bugger?

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