Erasers

Another good source of information on erasers (which also summarizes
much of the CCI data) is the Surface Cleaning outline of the Paper
Conservation Catalog.  This outline was published in 1992 and is
available through the AIC Office.

The Surface Cleaning outline includes a section "Special
Considerations--Photographs" which briefly discusses various issues such
as sulfur content, possible deleterious effects of eraser chemical
residues on silver images, issues regarding abrasion when surface
cleaning the emulsion side of photographs (I wrote this section).

I would advise people not to use Skum-X on the emulsion side of
photographs, or in situations where residues can get on the front of
photos when one is cleaning the back (which is hard to avoid).  Skum-X
contains abrasive particle (sand) which will scratch photos quite
easily.  The literature on eraser composition mentions other erasers
which contain abrasive particles to aid in cleaning (to be avoided with
photographs). Solid vinyl or grated vinyl (Mars, Staedtler, etc.) are
usually considered the safest in terms of sulfer content and low
abrasiveness. I have only used Skum-X on architectural plans such as
blueprints where the filth is such that something like Skum-X is called
for on the first go-around of cleaning to remove extensive grime.  This
is usually followed by gentler eraser types.

By the way, Bill Minter in Woodbury, PA  (814-793-4020, Fax:
814-793-4045)  is starting to supply and market grated vinyl eraser for
the conservation field.  He supplies them in different crumb sizes.

Sarah Wagner

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:75
                  Distributed: Monday, March 13, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-8-75-002
                                  ***