Hair spray as fixative

Carol Schaudt <schaudt [at] mailbox__neosoft__com> writes

>My daughter is taking a drawing class in college.  They are only
>allowed to use acid-free paper, but the professor recommends using
>Aqua Net hair spray as a fixative for graphite and charcoal drawings.

First do not try to use this Aqua net hair spray on your Picasso!
Now after we saved your drawing from a future disaster I can risk my
memory reputation and say that I do not remember any research or
other written record in conservation related to the archival
permanence or safety of this hair spray product. But on the other
hand  I can tell you that many tricks and inventions that are
considered today as simple conservation practice, arrived from
different fields of life not more strange than this hair spray, but
they were tested and the results were the key to using them or not.

Michael Maggen
Senior Paper Conservator
Israel Museum

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:22
                Distributed: Wednesday, August 28, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-22-011
                                  ***