Glue sticks

This in reply to the posting (Conservation DistList Instance: 14:26
Wednesday, November 8, 2000) concerning glue sticks. To my knowledge
there has been no comprehensive long-term study on poly(vinyl
pyrrolidone) (PVP), the major component of glue sticks. This is what
I know about them.

In 1982, analysis of three types of glue sticks at the Canadian
Conservation Institute (CCI) determined that all were composed of
PVP and had an alkaline pH of about 9 (Williams 1982). These
analyses were performed in 1982 and have not been re-checked since.
Our concern with using glue sticks comes from observations made at
CCI in the mid 1990s on labels that had been glued using a glue
stick 10 years earlier. These labels peeled extremely easily. As
well, photographs glued at the same time as the labels lost their
gloss in areas where the adhesive was on the reverse. For these
reasons, CCI does not recommend glue sticks for photographs or
permanent gluing solutions (Down 1999).

I would be very concerned about a document held together solely with
PVP glue sticks.

Hope this is useful. If anyone would like to discuss this or any
other adhesive question further, please contact me at 613-998-3721
or by email at jane_down [at] pch__gc__ca

References:

    Williams, R.S. 1982.
    Dennison Glue Stick.
    CCI Analytical Research Services Report No. 2017.

    Williams, R.S. 1982.
    Pritt Glue Stick.
    CCI Analytical Research Services Report No. 2011.

    Williams, R.S. 1982.
    UHU Stic Glue Stick.
    CCI Analytical Research Services Report No. 2012.

    Down, J.L. 1999.
    "Adhesive Research at the Canadian Conservation Institute as it
    Relates to Herbarium Collections", Chapter 11 in "Managing the
    Modern Herbarium--An Interdisciplinary Approach" eds. D.A.
    Metsger and S.C. Byers, SPNHC, pp. 220-221.

Jane Down
Senior Conservation Scientist, CCI


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:27
                 Distributed: Friday, November 10, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-14-27-001
                                  ***