Paint for windows

In reply to Tom Brown's query about paint for windows, here at the
Freer we used to apply whitewash (your standard commercial
whitewash) to the skylights in the summers to cut the amount of
light coming into the galleries.  Initially we used straight
whitewash and had to apply it twice a year (April and June, I
believe).  Then we started mixing latex paint into it and could get
it to stay for the whole summer without re-application.  At one
point we tried mixing in an anti-UV dye--also worked great.  The
advantage of this method was that it protected the objects from
light when the sun was high in the sky (in the summer) and washed
off so that there was more light in the dark winter.  Now we have a
re-designed skylight system, so we don't need to whitewash any more.

Tom Chase
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Smithsonian Institution

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:45
                Distributed: Thursday, November 7, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-45-014
                                  ***