Another standard approach is to lay down a base coat of B-72 & then topcoat with
the B-67.  This approach allows one to use a lot of the "archival" pens on the
market which smudge with the acetone if you try & top coat with it.  The active
ingredient in Soluvar is B-67.

Susan L. Maltby, Conservator
Maltby & Associates Inc.
Adjunct Professor, Museum Studies
Programme, University of Toronto

Quoting Rosie DiVernieri <[log in to unmask]>:

> And if you are worried about using B-72 due to it's acetone base, we have
> found that B-67 with a naptha base, available from the Northern States
> Conservation Center  http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html , works very
> well on metal objects and is easily removeable .
> 
> Rosie DiVernieri
>  
> 
> David Harvey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Michelle,
> 
> Reversibility with Acryloid B-72 is NOT an issue as long as one 
> understands that any coating/solvent system (including ink or paint) 
> that is used on a porous material may pose some concerns for 
> revesibility. But there are many well accepted methods for marking 
> textiles, paper based objects, etc.
> 
> One never uses any solvent system on a painted or coated artifact 
> unless one has done solvent soluability tests in an inconspicuous place 
> to ascertain if this poses a problem. I have seen B-72 used on the 
> backs of paintings in uncoated areas or on the underside of a chair 
> rail, for example, where the removal of the number would not affect the 
> finish.
> 
> I would hesitate to advise the use of a water soluable adhesive as 
> those nice pre-printed labels could float off or dissolve if the object 
> got wet in an event of a flood or a fire suppression system going off, 
> or even a damp cleaning by someone.
> 
> I believe that the NPS has a good ConservoGram on the labelling of 
> musuem objects.
> 
> Cheers!
> Dave
> 
> David Harvey
> Conservator
> Los Angeles, California
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michelle Zupan 
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 14:45:46 -0500
> Subject: Re: Seeking materials for accessioning/registration project
> 
> There are various materials for labeling artifacts. The old school 
> way is
> to use clear coat nailpolish and india ink. The problem is that
> reversibility is messy and will damage the artifact, especially painted 
> and
> varnished surfaces. Many places use B-72 acryloid, sold by University
> Products, Gaylord, and other archival suppliers. It is preferable to
> nailpollish, but reversibility is still an issue. I've worked with 
> several
> conservators who recommend: printing the object number out on acid-free
> paper with laser jet ink, putting down a base of water soluble adhesive 
> onto
> the artifact, and placing the label on that. It seems to have good 
> wear, is
> safely reversible, and you don't have the added issue of reading 
> someone's
> handwriting (is it a 7 or a 4 or a 9??). The adhesives are available 
> from
> all of the archival suppliers (all catalogs are available online).
> 
> Michelle
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
> Behalf
> Of Lancer 525
> Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 2:32 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Seeking materials for accessioning/regisration project
> 
> I've recently begun working on catching up the catalog of artifacts and
> other inventory of the small museum for which I work, and one of the 
> things
> that has come up that I do not have in my supplies, is the "stuff" you 
> put
> on an artifact on which you write the accession number.
> 
> There is also a clear coating that you put over this "base" that seals 
> the
> ink. I not only don't know where to find this kind of thing, but I 
> don't
> even know what it is called.
> 
> Also, if anyone can suggest sources for this, (preferably online 
> sources) as
> 
> well as good archival pens with which to mark artifacts, I would 
> appreciate
> it!
> 
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