Tyvek

Having recently done some shopping for a source of archival Tyvek to
replace the discontinued Archivek formerly sold by Talas, I thought
I would send this info along, should it be of use to anyone. We use
this for making pocket/envelope-type enclosures, so the
considerations of my inquiries were specific to that application.

A virtually identical material is DuPont Type 1059B. It mics out at
exactly the same thickness (6.5 mil/.0065 inches) as the Archivek
sample I measured, and the two are all but indistinguishable in both
appearance and feel.

DuPont instructed me to direct my price/availability inquiries to
"converters", those businesses at the next level down from the
manufacturer in the Tyvek hierarchy. They also informed me that they
sell only "raw" Tyvek, and that any treatments that would render its
suitability for conservation work questionable (e.g., antistats, UV
blockers, etc) are applied by the converters.

So, it is important to specify "untreated", "unprinted", and/or any
other modifiers deemed necessary to deliver the point that the
material sought is Tyvek that hasn't been altered and that has no
brands or logos printed on it (including DuPont's).

Finding a converter who was willing to sell a roll of raw Tyvek of
the size I needed, rather than the things they make from it,
treated/printed material, or their stock size rolls, was a bit of a
bother, but one finally came through. One converter who will sell
raw Tyvek rolls to order is:

    PeelMaster Packaging
    6153C Mulford St.
    Niles IL 60714

The person who accommodated my request was:

    Jodi Zieker
    Marketing Coordinator
    847-966-6161 ext: 13
    Fax: 847-966-6168
    jzieker [at] peelmaster__com

Price for a 36 inch x 100 yard roll was $146.84, again nearly
identical to the last catalog price I see for an Archivek roll of
the same size ($150). Some of the prices quoted by converters for
100 yard rolls of their stock widths (wider than 36 inches) were
substantially lower.

Garry Harrison
Circulating Collections Conservation
Indiana University Libraries


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:44
                Distributed: Thursday, December 4, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-17-44-006
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