Cleaning plastics

Hal P. Blagbrough Jr. <johs<-a t->inlink< . >com> writes

>I am looking for information on how to clean Bakelite, and other
>early plastics such as Celluloid. Any help would be appreciated.

There are several good references that Mr. Blagbrough could consult
on this subject:

    "Conservation of Plastics: An Introduction", John Morgan,
    Plastics Historical Society, London, 1991.

    "An Introduction to Plastics and Rubbers in Collections", Sharon
    Blank, Studies in Conservation, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp 53-63, May
    1990.

Plastic objects must be cleaned very carefully in order not to
introduce moisture and cleaning agents into the material.  The
material should be identified as accurately as possible in order to
choose the correct cleaning method.  The conservation condition of
the object to be cleaned must also be assessed accurately to judge
if cleaning is warranted and appropriate.

Paul Storch

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:16
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 14, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-16-004
                                  ***