Ms Armstrong asked for recommendations for an INERT material, and Sintra,
as a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) hardly qualifies.  Although Alusuisse, the
manufacturer of this particular brand of PVC, states that their product
is "archival," a quick check of any analysis of PVC should discourage
potential users, and encourage us to find alternatives.  One such
alternative for use as a substrate is acrylic sheeting manufactured
commercially as Acylite, among others.  While cutting and gluing present
some potential health hazards, as a substrate it is dimensionally stable,
and, unlike PVC, should not pose a threat of interaction with art
materials.

Oliver Hirsch
Hirsch & Associates Fine Art Services, INc.
New York

On Thu, 20 Mar 2003 09:10:28 -0500 "Meyersburg, David (PEB)"
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Lauraine,
>
> You should consider Sintra, a polyvinyl chloride/acrylic plastic
> sheet. The material is available in very thin sheets, several
> colors, and is easily cut with a mat knife or heavy-duty paper
> cutter. You can write on the reverse with a "sharpie" marker and
> various adhesives can be used to secure labels/captions. The
> material is available from a variety of suppliers. We have been
> using AIN Plastics- the closest to you is in Michigan:
> 1-800-521-1757.
>
>
>
> Dave Meyersburg
> New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
> Chief of Historic Sites Exhibits
> Peebles Island Resource Center
> Waterford, New York 12188-0209
> 518/237-8643 extension 3228
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lauraine Armstrong [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 5:24 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: laminating photos to "plastic"
>
>
>   A local government department had 2 large photo albums created
> (approx. 18" x 30") some 10 years ago. They contained b&w photos
> ordered
> from various archives and captions. The photos & captions were
> laminated
> onto acid-free poster board pages and a layer of what looks like
> mylar
> was laminated on top of that to protect everything. They were stored
> at
> the museum (but not part of our collection) but the gov't dept
> decided
> it wanted to use them for something, subsequently stored them in a
> basement, and now the mylar protective layer and the captions have
> wrinkled. It looks like moisture damage, possibly caused by
> temperature/humidity fluctuation.
>
> If you picture those magnetic photo albums where somebody has laid
> the
> plastic cover down badly so that air is trapped in it and there are
> little ridges, you'll have an idea of what this album now looks
> like.
>
> New albums can be made because all the photos were prints ordered
> from
> various archives. What I've been asked and what I am asking you, is
> there some sort of inert, rigid, plastic that could be used for the
> pages of the album, instead of acid-free poster board, that would be
> more tolerant of improper storage. Otherwise, I'll recommend they
> recreate the albums in the same fashion and simply store them
> properly
> this time.
>
> thanks in advance
> Lauraine Armstrong
>
>
>
>
> --
> Lauraine Armstrong
> Curator of Collections
>
> Northern Life Museum                    tel: 867-872-2859
> PO Box 420                              fax: 867-872-5808
> Fort Smith, NWT X0E 0P0
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Oliver Hirsch
Hirsch & Associates Fine Art Services, Inc.
New York

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