Paraformaldehyde

In a routine check of the Durban Art Gallery's grass basketry
collection I noticed that one pot had developed severe mould growth.
It is part of a loan collection to the Durban Art Gallery.

I removed it from store, brushed off the mould and placed the basket
in the sun for one hour for the uv rays to kill off the mould.

On the market there is a product made in Durban called STOPMILDEW
which is often used in the domestic environment to prevent mould
growth in cupboards. This product is 100% paraformaldehyde.   I
telephoned the chemist at the firm which manufactures the product to
ask whether it would affect the basket in any way if I were to place
a sachet inside the pot in order to prevent the mildew from
re-occurring.   He assured me that there would be no deleterious
effects.

If anyone has used a similar product could you contact me to let me
know whether it has been effective and safe to use in basketry
collections.

Jill Addleson
Curator of Collections
Durban Art Gallery
South Africa


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:45
                 Distributed: Friday, February 16, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-45-024
                                  ***