Doesn't sound like nail polish. Acetone should have done the trick. Just in case it is actually a conservation-formulated product (such as B-72), try a bit of toluene. One would expect the acetone to work for anything that toluene works for, but it's worth a try. Perhaps it is shellac based, so try ethyl alcohol (200 proof grain alcohol or denatured alcohol is OK). Be forewarned that anything except toluene or naptha/mineral spirits may remove the finishes on the furniture as it removes the paint. If everything else fails, methylene chloride or DMF will probably remove anything, including furniture finishes. They are probably OK for silver. You have to decide if a bit of finish loss on the furniture is a good trade off for number removal (hopefully they are in inconspicuous locations?).
You may need to wet the surface and let the solvent sit there for a while. Some materials are soluble, but take a bit of time. You can cover the area with a small piece of polyethylene sheeting to retard evaporation.
Hopefully, you are working with swabs, so the solvent quantity is small, but be sure to use appropriate safety procedures.
Marc
American Conservation Consortium, Ltd.
4 Rockville Road
Broad Brook, CT 06016
www.conservator.com
860-386-6058
*Collections Preservation Consultation
*Conservation Assessments & Surveys
*Low-Tech Environmental Control
*Moisture Management Solutions
*Collections in Historic Structures
*Conservation Treatment of:
Furniture
Painted Wood
Horse-Drawn Vehicles
Architectural Interiors
Marc A. Williams, President
MS in Art Conservation, Winterthur Museum Program
Former Chief Wooden Object Conservator, Smithsonian Institution
Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine Dean
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 3:50 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] nailpolish number removal
Dear Listers,
I am preparing a batch of deaccessioned items to go to auction and in the process I am removing all of the accession numbers and identifying information. Unfortunately I have a batch of items (mostly silver, but also some furniture, etc.) that were marked with what looks to be red nailpolish back in the 1970s. I tried acetone, but that does nothing to loosen the numbers. Naptha also failed. Just about the only thing that works so far is chipping the numbers off, but that has the great potential to scratch the material and it doesn't even do that satisfactory of a job. Does anyone have any idea what the numbers might be written in and any quick and easy (these need to be dealt with this week, so mail ordering something will not cut it) methods for getting rid of them?
Thanks,
Catherine Dean
Catherine E. Dean
Curator of Collections
APVA Preservation Virginia
204 West Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23220-5012
804-648-1889 x313
FAX 804-775-0802
[log in to unmask]
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