{"id":8068,"date":"2013-07-17T08:04:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T13:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/?p=8068"},"modified":"2013-07-17T08:19:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T13:19:39","slug":"bad-tape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Lab: Conservators Don’t Like Tape!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My latest conservation project has been one involving chemicals and special equipment, doing something that we conservators face far too often\u2014tape removal. But fortunately, our lab is well equipped with tools and materials specifically for that purpose.<\/p>\n

\"Adhesive<\/a><\/p>\n

In September there will be a new exhibit at the Nasher Museum of Art on empire and cartography, organized by the BorderWork(s) Lab here at Duke. Seventeen maps and books from the Rubenstein Library were selected for the exhibit, but many of them required treatment first. Rachel Penniman, Erin Hammeke, and I have been working to make sure the items will be in safe condition before they make the short journey across campus to the museum.<\/p>\n

\"TI_front-back-blog\"<\/p>\n

One item that has required the most work for me is an early 19th century hand-colored manuscript map from South America labeled \u201cTerrenos Incognito” (above, front and back). Although on good quality, strong paper, the map was previously folded so many times that it began to break along the folds, and so some well-intentioned person in the past reinforced the folds with strips of tape on the back. Over time, the adhesive turned yellow and seeped through the paper, leaving stains along all of those fold lines. And not only is the staining unsightly, but the adhesive is also chemically destructive to the paper, making it brittle and more liable to break. So now, as is often the case, I am spending many hours undoing someone\u2019s quick fix that turned out to do more harm than good.<\/p>\n

\"Tape<\/p>\n

\u00a0Before using any chemicals I tried mechanical means to remove the tape. First I had to remove the carrier, the plastic part of the tape that the adhesive is attached to. For that I used a hot air tool to soften the adhesive and an unsharpened dissection scalpel (my favorite tool) to lift the carrier off. But there was a lot of residual adhesive left on (and in) the paper.<\/p>\n

\"Fume<\/a><\/p>\n

After testing the adhesive\u2019s solubility in various chemicals, I selected the most appropriate solvent. In conjunction with the use of chemicals I have been using our excellent vacuum pump and manuscript suction device, also officially known as a Stealth Sucker. I work in the fume hood to avoid breathing solvent fumes. I lay my map on the suction platen and use solvent to dissolve the adhesive, then the vacuum action draws it out of the paper. I can only treat an inch at a time and the work is very slow, but the effect is rewarding . Although there will always be some staining visible, the map\u2019s appearance is beginning to improve dramatically. Soon I hope to have it finished, and visitors at the Nasher will be able to appreciate its beauty without the distraction of adhesive stains.<\/p>\n

\"Adhesive
Detail of “Terrenos Incognito,” Before and After Treatment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Detail
Detail of “Terrenos Incognito,” Before and After Treatment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Post contributed by Grace White, Conservator for Special Collections, as part of our ongoing \u201cIn the Conservation Lab\u201d series<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest conservation project has been one involving chemicals and special equipment, doing something that we conservators face far too often\u2014tape removal. But fortunately, our lab is well equipped with tools and materials specifically for that purpose. In September there will be a new exhibit at the Nasher Museum of Art on empire and cartography, … Continue reading In the Lab: Conservators Don’t Like Tape!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":8090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,44,50],"tags":[110],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-our-collections","category-conservation","category-news-features","tag-conservation-2"],"yoast_head":"\nIn the Lab: Conservators Don't Like Tape! - The Devil's Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the Lab: Conservators Don't Like Tape! - The Devil's Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My latest conservation project has been one involving chemicals and special equipment, doing something that we conservators face far too often\u2014tape removal. But fortunately, our lab is well equipped with tools and materials specifically for that purpose. In September there will be a new exhibit at the Nasher Museum of Art on empire and cartography, … Continue reading In the Lab: Conservators Don’t Like Tape! →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Devil's Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-17T13:04:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-17T13:19:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/files\/2013\/07\/adhesive_removal_inprogress-blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"422\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amy McDonald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rubensteinlib\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@rubensteinlib\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amy McDonald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amy McDonald\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/#\/schema\/person\/9b80b2beaf2cea2b14866de548543f76\"},\"headline\":\"In the Lab: Conservators Don’t Like Tape!\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-17T13:04:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-17T13:19:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\"},\"wordCount\":519,\"commentCount\":6,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/files\/2013\/07\/adhesive_removal_inprogress-blog.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"conservation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"From Our Collections\",\"In the Conservation Lab\",\"News and Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\",\"name\":\"In the Lab: Conservators Don't Like Tape! - The Devil's Tale\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/files\/2013\/07\/adhesive_removal_inprogress-blog.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-17T13:04:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-17T13:19:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/#\/schema\/person\/9b80b2beaf2cea2b14866de548543f76\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/files\/2013\/07\/adhesive_removal_inprogress-blog.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/files\/2013\/07\/adhesive_removal_inprogress-blog.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":422,\"caption\":\"Adhesive Removal in Progress\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/2013\/07\/17\/bad-tape\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In the Lab: Conservators Don’t Like Tape!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.library.duke.edu\/rubenstein\/\",\"name\":\"The Devil's Tale\",\"description\":\"Dispatches from the David M. 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