Freezing objects

Ellen Roblee <robleee [at] nmaicrc__si__edu> writes

>...  Could those of
>you who have seen damage caused by freezing for pest control please
>share your observations? The damage we are concerned about includes
>cracking, crack propagation, delamination, fatty bloom, spew (spue
>for some of us), loss of adhesion, exacerbation of bead disease and
>so forth.

Another consideration for freezing artifacts is what effect, if any,
moisture condensation inside the bag as a result of the freeze/thaw
cycle may have on the artifact. An example of the damage this could
cause would be colour transfer of water soluble dyes in textile
artifacts. Some conservators have tried using acid free tissue as a
buffer to absorb excess moisture and mitigate this risk, but I would
be interested in hearing if others on the DistList have found other
alternative solutions to this problem.

Dee Stubbs
Conservator
New Brunswick Museum


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:53
                   Distributed: Sunday, April 8, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-53-001
                                  ***