[Nhcoll-l] whatever happened to Nalgene PolyPaper?

[David Werneke]

We used a plastic paper from Nalgene about twelve years ago. After a year of using the paper they changed the paper from a single layer plastic to a tri-layered plastic coated paper that delaminated in ethanol. When that happened we switched to iGage Weatherproof Paper.

The iGage paper worked alright for wet collections in formalin, isopropanol, and ethanol up to 95%. The paper will take indelible ink and hold it in alcohol, but will not take pencil very well if at all. The company does state that it will work with ink-jet printers, but we only ever used it with our laser printer so I’m not sure what the ink retention would be like in alcohol. We have had test labels in ethanol and formalin for over ten years now with no sign fading or toner delamination. The iGage paper does get slimy in alcohol with a noticeable white precipitate on the surface of the label with removed from solution. I haven’t noticed any issues with the specimens due to this, yet. Also, like the old Nalgene paper we used, labels printed on this paper will crumble if left out of liquid for a few months.

We recently switched to the same thermal-transfer printer that Andy mentioned.

David

David Werneke
AUMNH Fish Collection Manager
101 Rouse Life Sciences
Biological Sciences
Auburn University, AL  36849
USA