dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

the same result you needed to “rub” as little as 25
times for the worst product and as much as 900
times for the most gentle.
Storage and care of massproduced
metal household
utensils
This part of the report gives useful information
to non-professional staff and volunteers in their
practical work. The recommendations follow normal
guidelines for storage of metal objects in museums.
The objects should be clean and kept in a “clean” and
dry environment. They must be stored spaciously
and handled with care. Advice of what not to do as
well as recommendations for the use of carbon cloth
and polyethylene plastic bags for certain objects are
given. If these recommendations are followed we
will be able to preserve a most interesting piece
of our heritage reflecting all the “little things” that
were produced for domestic use in the era of the
industrial revolution in Western Europe.
Plastic, the cultural heritage of
tomorrow
The second project dealing with mass-produced
objects is devoted to plastics. During the last 50
years plastics has in many ways replaced the metal
alloys that were used earlier, in mass-produced
everyday products, for the household. Plastics are
in many ways a functional and versatile material
that can be shaped and formed into almost anything.
The project has dealt with the following subjects:
history of materials and production, analysis and
identification of plastics, state of the museum
collections, preventive and active conservation and
is presented in a report.
Plastic – an endless variety of
monomers and fillers
Plastics can be divided into three main groups;
thermoplastics, thermosetting plastics and elastomers.
Their behaviour and appearance can be varied through
the use of different additives. It is complicated to
identify plastics and the monomers of which they
are constituted. A few simple tests are recommended
which can give a quick classification of the product.
To give an appropriate identification advanced
technology is needed, as well as good reference
systems. In this study over 600 objects have been
examined with an infrared spectrometer, ATR-FTIR
[8]. The results have been collected in a database
for future use [9]. A review of relevant literature has
been conducted and a technical introduction to the
most common types of plastics is presented.
Damage to plastic – a complicated
issue
The plastic materials that are used in everyday
household utensils are seldom designed to have
properties that make them last forever. A variety of
damages occur, both chemical and structural. Many
“new materials” have been tested during the last 50
years, and quite a lot of them are not stable to longterm
storage. This is a challenge for the conservators
today. The objects are often rare and represent a lot
of information about the industrial production from
the 20 th century. This is a growing problem definitely
connected to all industrial mass-production. Today
it might be even more complicated to find out how,
and of which monomers and fillers the objects are
produced, when the factories are often on the other
side of the globe.
A special problem in the museum collections is
the emission of volatile components that can infect
and migrate into nearby objects. Objects that have
been in use and are worn have more damage than
non-used objects. Composite objects of plastic and
metal are often damaged because of the catalytic
effect of metals causing deterioration. Damage is
also frequent on objects made of polyvinylchloride
(PVC), polyurethane (PU) and cellulose derivatives.
It is stated that the thermosetting plastics are
generally more stable than the thermoplastic.
Storage and care of household
utensils made from plastics
Like all museum objects, plastic materials should
be kept in a dark, clean and stable environment.
However, compared to most objects, plastics need
even more attention and care than this.
Generally plastics should be stored at a low
temperature (5° to 10° C), and in certain cases even
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