Subject: Early phenol-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde plastics
James Tapley <jthandbook [at] aol__com> writes >I have acquired a badly damaged (cracks, losses) art deco Reliure >Jotau industrial molded "Bakelite" bookbinding. While these bindings >are always referred to as made of Bakelite I believe, based on the >unpainted but rather colorful plastic, that they are perhaps made of >a urea-formaldehyde plastic. Can anyone suggest a relatively simple >and non-destructive test for distinguishing between urea- and >phenol-formaldehyde plastics? ... An easy way to check the difference is to place a hot needle somewhere discreet on the piece. If a white halo is seen around the needle point on the plastic then you will have Urea-formaldehyde. It should also give a fishy smell. Phenol Formaldehyde will have a medical smell. Even by rubbing a warm hand on it you can often smell it. An extremely knowledgeable person who may be able to help you further is Thea Van Oosten. She is a senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage and specialises in plastic recognition. Suzanne Kitto Senior Conservator Conservation Dept. Royal Armouries Armouries Drive Leeds LS10 1LT *** Conservation DistList Instance 18:36 Distributed: Sunday, January 30, 2005 Message Id: cdl-18-36-020 ***Received on Wednesday, 26 January, 2005