Rhoplex N-580

Megan Ann Jones <meganann.jones [at] chicagoconservation__com>
writes

>Our textile department has been researching potential adhesive
>materials for use in the mounting of delicate items.  One product
>that has been suggested is Rhoplex N-580 ...

I strongly recommend polyvinyl acetate resin mixtures rather than
emulsions as long as you have the capability of handling
solvent-based adhesives safely.  Emulsions are mixtures of all kinds
of stuff; their pH's are problematic, and there are a lot of strange
aging problems, shelf life problems, etc.  According to a lot of
research, changes in color are associated with "better" aging
properties.  Testing of a large number of different proprietary
mixtures has produced lots of data with almost no understanding of
what the underlying chemistry is.  If you prefer an aqueous-based
material, I suggest making an emulsion of your own with B-72, for
example.  It will probably settle on standing a while, but the point
of it is simply to get the resin onto the support however you can do
that.  The chemicals in emulsions are irrelevant for your purposes.

Explanations for the PVA resin treatment are in P. Himmelstein,  B.
Appelbaum. "The Use of sprayed polyvinyl acetate resin mixtures in
the mounting of textiles," AIC Journal, 7 (1977): 37-44.

Barbara Appelbaum
Appelbaum and Himmelstein
444 Central Park West
New York NY 10025
212-666-4630
Fax: 212-316-1039


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:30
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                       Message Id: cdl-18-30-003
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