un-du Adhesive Remover

Whitney Baker <wbaker [at] pop__uky__edu> writes

>On behalf of an archivist friend, I would like to know if anyone has
>any technical information on un-du Adhesive Remover
><URL:http://www.un-du.com/>.  This product has been touted to
>"temporarily neutralize" adhesives and then evaporate, leaving no
>staining.  It's been advertised widely in the scrapbooking and
>genealogy communities and is purported to be photo-safe.  Does
>anyone know what solvent is in this product?

I was curious about this product when I heard about it a year or so
ago. According to the US Patent documentation, the solvent used is
probably heptane or hexane. (To see the full text of the patent, go
to <URL:http://164.195.100.11/netahtml/srchnum.htm> and search
"5,333,967").

A few attempts at contacting the manufacturer yielded no results. I
purchased a small bottle and tested the product. Frankly, I was
unimpressed. In each instance (removing recent and older clear tape
applications), an adhesive residue remained on the document.

Michael C. Miller
Special Collections Librarian
Dallas Public Library, Texas/Dallas History and Archives
1515 Young St.
Dallas TX 75201
214-670-1440


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:58
                   Distributed: Tuesday, May 1, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-58-003
                                  ***