Dave, I would love to get some advice off the list, but can't seem to find a current email address for you. :) If you don't want to share, just email me directly at the address below and I can send you some pictures. Thanks for the help. Meredith Curatorial Assistant Virginia Beach Historic Houses 3131 Virginia Beach Blvd. Virginia Beach, VA 23452 Phone: 757-431-4000 Fax: 757-431-3733 Email: [log in to unmask] ________________________________ From: Museum discussion list on behalf of David Harvey Sent: Tue 11/14/2006 7:42 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Cleaning Sticky Iron Meredith, Without seeing this object it is awfully hard to judge what is going on - it could just be a really heavy parafin coating (wax) or many layers of a degraded organic oil or something else. Since you said that it turned sticky then I'm leaning towards some sort of wax. The fact that the mineral spirits did have an affect also suggests possible wax. The degraded organic oil that I found on that stove top figure hard was extremely hard and really did not soften or swell appreciably. Adding wax over a sticky surface will just make it worse. Why don't you send me some digital photos of this thing with some close-ups of the area where you have tested the mineral spirits and we'll pursue some other ideas off of the list. I know that my many friends and colleagues on here are probably fascinated by all of this but sometimes the back-and-forth communication about an object needs to be more focused without 3000 people listening in. Cheers! Dave Conservator Los Angeles ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).