Polaroid prints

I see that I should have gone into a little more detail about Polaroid.
In spite of the fact that integral instant prints (SX-70, etc) are
sealed between sheets of polyester, I don't believe that they are that
well sealed in.  We know that the integral photographs lose water for a
couple of weeks after being shot therefore the polyester is not that
thick or not that well sealed.  In addition, I double checked with Henry
Wilhelm (who was at the ANSI meetings this past week at IPI) about his
concern about Windex (and other glass cleaners) and Polaroid prints.  He
had found that the Windex was seeping in under the white border and
around the polyester sheet.  This doesn't sound like it's very well
sealed.  The result, of course, was dye migration (alkaline induced by
the ammonia in the glass cleaner.)  I actually asked Henry what his view
was of storing Polaroids and other photographs together and we agree
that it isn't advisable.  He also feels that some "stuff" from inside is
probably leaving the print either through the polyester (very slowly) or
around it (the way the glass cleaner got in.)  He is also concerned
about the physical effects (something I hadn't thought about) of a)
larger photographs with (smaller) SX-70 prints (just like large and
small prints shouldn't be stored together since they shuffle around.
SX-70s are smaller than conventional photographs.) b) About the border
around the front of the photograph (forming a sharp little lip) which
can abrade other images.  Peel apart are supposed to be clean and free
of chemicals (according to Polaroid, *all* of the processing reagent
adheres to the negative and is discarded.  I think that I would like to
see one of them lick the face of the Polaroid print to show how chemical
free it really is.)  Anyway, this should clarify my original position on
storage.

BTW Loren's note raised an interesting question in my mind.  13 years
ago (when I was still a student) I was in a store that sold amateur
cameras including Polaroids.  The Land cameras and the Swing were still
reasonably popular then (both used amateur peel-apart film).  I didn't
find any such cameras in a 1988 catalog from a photo store in Toronto.
If the cameras were discontinued between 1980 and 1988, how long was
Polaroid going to provide film for them?  Had such film been
discontinued.  Well, it just so happened that Polaroid is also an ANSI
member, so I asked the rep about it. According to him, not only do they
still sell both color and black-and-white film in the amateur peel-apart
sizes (88, 108, 87 and 107 respectively, I assume), but that at the last
meeting with sales (this person was in research/permanence/tech-support)
amateur peel-apart color sales amounted to 300K to 400K prints per year
which they felt was pretty darn good.  (Or did he say 300M to 400M?)
Anyway, it sounds like color peel-apart is still going strong in the
amateur market.  Sure surprised me.

-Doug
Image Permanence Institute

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:32
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 13, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-32-001
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