Silver cloth

Katy Untch <kuntch [at] vmfa__state__va__us> writes

>I was told by the manufacturer of Pacific Silver cloth that it only
>comes in brown.  I'm sure I've seen grey somewhere, and isn't that
>Tiffany baby blue impregnated to deter tarnishing?

I cannot help you find a different color of silver cloth but I can
tell you that the Pacific cloth is still effective if it is
stretched below another fabric.  We Have one case in which Pacific
cloth was stretched around the backboard prior to stretching the
display fabric.  This was installed in 1996 and a polished silver
coupon placed in the case still appears bright.

I cannot remember the reference but I do recall hearing/reading that
silver cloths are not all created equal.  I believe that someone
tested a variety of silver cloths and found Pacific cloth to be the
best.  This may have been word of mouth information rather than
published.  I hope that another subscriber has a better memory or is
better informed on this point.

Several British institutions have been using zinc oxide pellets for
sulphur scavenging. This is cleaner than using charcoal and a very
small volume is required.  A small petri dish or two is sufficient
for most cases.  This could easily be hidden within a block if the
case is not outfitted with an accessible compartment.  At the BM the
petri dishes are clearly visible in several of the antiquities
cases.  It has been tested by their scientists. We have tried it and
found it to be effective.

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:40
                 Distributed: Monday, November 2, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-40-002
                                  ***