Preserving scent

I would like to reply to the question of preserving scents. I doubt that
shrink wrapping or encapsulation will do much good. Mylar, and I assume
that shrink wrap film is a form of mylar breath.

Case in point. Some years ago I went and saw Polyester by John Waters
which came with a "scratch and sniff" card. It was wretched, as it was
supposed to be. Anyway, I encapsulated it in 5 mil mylar, and with in a
few hours, the bag I was carrying my prize home in smelled like cheap
perfume and dirty socks.

That was short term. As to long term, I would assume that it would
continue to outgas until there was nothing left to smell.

Peter D. Verheyen
Rare Book Conservator
B-39 Olin Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-2484

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:76
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 21, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-76-005
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