Microwave drying

A number of years there was a lot of discussion about drying books
through the use of a microwave oven.  Karen Motylewski, then of the
Northeast Document Conservation Center and now of the University of
Texas, did some testing of books by attempting to dry them with a
microwave oven.  My recollection is that the results were
disastrous.  There were scorch marks on many of the pages, the
adhesives were adversely affected--melted, changed chemically, and
there were other problems which I cannot remember at this time.  I
think that any use of microwave ovens for drying, or for that matter
any conservation-related works, should be approached with extreme
caution.

Gregor Trinkaus-Randall
Collection Management/Preservation Specialist
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
648 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215-2070
617-267-9400, 800-952-7403 (in-state)
Fax: 617-421-9833

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:38
                 Distributed: Monday, October 20, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-38-008
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