Storing silver

Cihat Uzun <objectconservation [at] yahoo__com> writes

>We are revising our storage. we have a lot of silver objects such as
>plates, spoons, and forks. We are searching for polyethylene. It is
>cheap and inert. Do you think is it proper for long term storage?
>What properties do we have to take into consideration while choosing
>packing materials for silver objects

This website

    <URL:http://www.cwaller.de/english.htm>

gives you an idea of the common silver protection systems out there
and their costs. I have had good experiences with the Pacific
Silvercloth in combination with Purafil. Depending on the air
circulation and general air pollution in your area, half a kilo of
Purafil spread into your silver storage container (in a ceramic bowl
as the pellets are alkaline) will last between 1/2 to 2 years. One
of the  problems with all kinds of absorbers is: You hardly ever
know when they reached their capacity, although Purafil will change
its colour when saturated. The Pacific Silvercloth works fantastic
for shorter periods of time, I haven't tested them to their extent
yet.

The Intercept Technology might work, no test have been done by
anyone I know, the system seems to be quite intelligent. Still I am
not comfortable with wrapping silver or any other material in
synthetic polymers of any kind as most of them have caused a lot of
damage in the past by evaporation of plasticizers or other additives
you might not know of (and the supplier won't tell you about them).

Have you considered air filtration for all of your storage?
Sometimes it is more economical in the long term than replacing
hundreds or thousands of bags / boxes every couple of years. Also
partial nitrogen flooding is an option. There are many methods of
cleanroom technologies coming from the electronics industry that you
might want to look at.

Alexander Grillparzer
Conservation Student
Technische Universitat Munchen
Germany


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:43
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