A note of thanks to David Harvey from the Sherman County, Oregon museum folks! Lots to think about! Sherry Kaseberg Museum Coordinator ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Harvey" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 8:45 PM Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Vinyl Flooring in Storage > Sherry, > > Well, first, anything will probably be better than raw plywood in a > collections storage area. > > In terms of the conservation concerns. You need to look at both the > floor tile material and the proposed glue. Just having someone > recommend a tile brand is next to useless because manufacturers change > their formulations all the time, there can be significant differences > from lot to lot, or in different color or pattern compositions. > Conservators often assess materials intended for collections storage > or exhibitions using the qualitative Oddy test, in which a small > sample of the material is placed in a clean test tube with a measured > amount of deionized water, cotton wool, a clean silver coupon id > suspended from the stopper, and then it is placed in a lab oven and > heated to simulate accelerated aging for weeks. If the coupon has any > visible tarnish or surface effects at the end of the test then the > material is indicating a negative for use near collections. > > To get a faster assessment (in a matter of days) I once had to submit > a material to a commercial lab for a mass spec gas chromatograph > headspace analysis. In this test a measured sample of the material is > placed into the machine and incinerated - the gaseous volatiles are > analysed and this can tell you if organic acids and sulphur compounds > are elementally present and in specific concentrations. In the case ot > my material we had positives for both. This test is expensive and it > is best suited for only looking at a single sample or two, not a > multitude that can be easily done by the Oddy test as previously > described. > > The glues can be a differnet issue - often by exmaining the MSDS > (material safety data sheets) for such products a conservator can > glean insight into potential problems, and also contacting the > manufacturer can sometimes be helpful. Usually any adhesive that is > low - voc (volatile organic compounds) and "green" is usually better > then one full of organic solvents. > > So, if you have access to a conservator to consult with you on this, > you can go a long way towards at least avoiding the worst flooring > products out there. But as I said at the start, you can't get much > worse than the raw plywood that you already have. > > Cheers! > Dave > > David Harvey > Conservator > Los Angeles, CA > > > On 1/15/08, Sherry Kaseberg <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> >> Interested in advice and/or specifications for vinyl flooring for use in >> artifact storage rooms. Present flooring is plywood, unpainted. >> >> Sherry Kaseberg >> Museum Coordinator >> Sherman County Historical Museum >> Moro, Oregon >> www.shermanmuseum.org >> ========================================================= >> 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). >> >> > > ========================================================= > 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). > > ========================================================= 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).