October 25, 2022

Plastics in Museums

The Problem With Plastics

By Helen Alten

Plastics are made from the deteriorated product of ancient plants, known as coal and oil. The stones jet and diamond are from these same ancient plants, compressed by eons of earth. Organic materials come from a living organism, either plant or animal. In chemical terms, organic materials are defined as any material whose primary structure is made of carbon. This includes materials we might not think are organic, such as plastics. Plastics are known as modified organic materials.

Plastics

Plastics are a 20^th Century phenomenon. Although the first were invented in the 19^th Century, the use of plastic sky rocketed after World War II. Now they are found in every culture in every part of our world. They mimic or replace nearly every material we used prior to their advent – including leather, ivory, baleen, textiles, antler, and tortoiseshell.

What is a Plastic?

Plastic is any organic material with the ability to flow into a desired shape when heat and pressure are applied to it and to retain the shape when they are withdrawn. Although all plastics are polymers, not all polymers are plastics. For example, rubber is an elastomer, not a plastic. Polymers are divided into two distinct groups: thermoplastics and thermosets.

Thermoplastics soften with heat and harden when cooled. They can be formed over and over again. This property allows for easy processing and facilitates recycling. The earliest of all synthetic plastics, cellulose nitrate and its derivative Parkesine, are thermoplastics.

Thermosets cannot be reformed or remolded. Bakelite, the first truly synthetic plastic, is a thermoset. Thermosets differ from thermoplastics chemically: heating introduces a three-dimensional network to the long chains so that they are no longer able to flow freely past one another like they can in the case of the thermoplastics.

When heat and pressure are applied to a thermoplastic, the chainlike polymers slide past each other, giving the material “plasticity.” However, when heat and pressure are initially applied to a thermosetting polymer, the molecular chains become cross-linked, thus preventing any slippage if heat and pressure are reapplied.

Composition and Types of Plastic

A plastic is made up principally of a binder together with plasticizers, fillers, pigments, stabilizers, pigments or dyes and other additives. The binder gives a plastic its main characteristics and usually its name. Thus, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is both the name of a binder and the name of a plastic into which it is made. However, a PVC plastic can be up to 50 percent other stuff. It is important, when considering preservation of plastic materials in museums, to understand that they are a soup of many materials, not just the one material with which they are labeled. Binders may be natural materials such as cellulose derivatives, casein or milk protein. More commonly binders are synthetic resins. In either case, the binder materials consist of long chainlike molecules called polymers. Cellulose derivatives are made from cellulose, a naturally occurring polymer; casein is also a naturally occurring polymer. Synthetic resins are polymerized, or built up, from small simple molecules called monomers.

Plasticizers are added to a binder to increase flexibility and toughness. Think of a large plate of spaghetti. The plasticizers are the butter that make the spaghetti slide around. Fillers are added to improve particular properties such as hardness or resistance to shock. Stabilizers help keep the plastic from deteriorating. Pigments are used to impart various colors. Virtually any desired color or shape and many combinations of the properties of hardness, durability, elasticity, and resistance to heat, cold, and acid can be obtained in a plastic.

Excerpt from MS001 The Problem with Plastics. Helen Alten lives in Haines, Alaska. Prior to coming to Haines she founded Northern States Conservation Center and Museum Classes. She is an objects conservator with a desire to bring about change through museums, improving our communities and the patrimony we leave to our off-spring.   

____________________________________________________________________

To learn more about plastics in your collection, join instructor Diana Komejan for the short course MS001 The Problem with Plastics starting November 7, 2022.

Join your cultural property industry peers in St. Pete, FL

IFCPP’s annual conference offers educational sessions from cultural property security leaders, opportunities to network with peers from institutions across the country, and special excursions to local cultural properties including the Salvador Dali museum. Our annual conference is the time for cultural property security professionals to come together to network and learn about cutting-edge trends in this ever-changing industry. You don’t want to miss this!

When: May 6-10, 2023

Where: St. Petersburg, FL at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel

Register during our Early Bird period (by Nov. 18) to get the best pricing option! Plus all registrations before Oct. 31 will get 2 IFCPP online training courses for free.

Early Bird Discounts Available for Full Length Courses

An Early Bird Discount is available for anyone who signs up for a full length course from museumclasses.org 30 days prior to the start of that course. 

Sign up for a full length course up to 30 days prior to its start and save $100.00!

For our course list or to sign up: http://www.collectioncare.org/course-list

To take advantage of this discount, you must enter coupon code EARLYBIRD at checkout at collectioncare.org

Earlybird Discount Deadline for January 2023 Courses is December 3, 2022

November Courses

MS 001: The Problem with Plastics

November 7 to 11, 2022 

Instructor: Diana Komejan

Description:

As we march boldly toward the 22nd century, artifact collecting includes that most fragile of materials - plastic. Not only is it in our collections, but it is used to house our collections, too. What problems have you seen? What problems have others seen? What materials are best? What can we, as caretakers, do to minimize long-term damage? Join Diana in this mini-course for discussing care and deterioration of plastics. Bring any questions you have about plastics in your museum.

MS 007: The Mission Statement: Is it really that important?

November 7 to 18, 2022  

Instructor: Peggy Schaller

Description:

The heart of every museum is its collection. A mission statement is critical to preserving that collection. Participants in The Mission Statement will discuss their mission statements and whether they really make a difference. Peggy has seen and heard it all as a consultant to small and large museums. She will help you figure out ways to make your mission statement work for you.

MS 211: Preservation Environments

November 7 to December 16, 2022  

Instructor: Ernest Conrad

Description:

The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling. The powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the foam padding. Objects in fur storage are covered in mold. It is raining in the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs to museum buildings or collection when staff do not understand preservation environments. Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for any collecting institution. Everyone should understand how humidity and temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical system. For museum staff considering a new building - and any institution planning to expand or rebuild an existing one - Preservation Environments provide important information for calculating whether the proposed improvements will actually improve the environmental control of your protective enclosure. Participants learn the advantages and disadvantages of numerous methods of temperature and humidity control. Preservation Environments does not try to turn museum professionals into engineers. Rather, it arms them with the knowledge they need to work with engineers and maintenance professionals. And helps explain why damaged occurred and how to keep it from happening again.

MS 212: Care of Textiles

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: Ann Coppinger

Description:

Caring for textiles demands an understanding of how and why they deteriorate. This course offers a simplified explanation of the origin and structure of textile fibers as well as the finished textile object; be it either a piece of whole cloth or a finished garment. Care of Textiles teaches students to identify fibers, fabric structures and finishes, write condition reports, and understand the agents of deterioration that are harmful to various fabrics both in storage on exhibit. Topics include preparing textiles for storage and exhibit, the use of archival materials with textiles, and three dimensional supports.

MS 218: Collection Inventories

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: Peggy Schaller

Description:

Collection inventories are vital to collection management and security. You need to know what is in your collection to be able to manage it well. This means regular inventories must occur. But knowing you must do them and actually having the time and manpower to complete an inventory are two different things. Collection Inventories discusses everything you ever wanted to know about collection inventories. From how to set one up to how to conduct an inventory. Other topics include what to look for during an inventory and how to reconcile the information.

MS273: Advanced Interpretive Techniques -Interpreting the "rest of the story"

November 7 to December 2, 2022  

Instructor: John Veverka

Description:

Interpreting "the rest of the story", a powerful Interpretive communications technique for revealing and releasing the "rest of the stories" hidden in artifacts, objects, historical figures/events, landscapes, or sites through both live presentations and interpretive media text and label copy. This course will help you utilize and blend the Paul Harvey Rest of the Story format with Tilden's Interpretive Principles. An interpretive technique marriage that can be embraced and used throughout your interpretive career.

2023 Course Schedule

More to come! Keep checking back at https://www.collectioncare.org/course-list

January

MS 103: The Basics of Museum Registration January 2 to February 3, 2023  

MS 262: Moving Collections January 2 to 27, 2023

MS 270: Planning and Designing Interpretive Panels January 2 to 27, 2023  

February

MS104: Introduction to Collections Preservation: February 6 to March 10, 2023   

MS266: Legal Issues in Collections Management February 6 to March 3, 2023  

March

MS 269: Visitor Motivations for Selecting Programs March 6 to 31, 2023  

April

MS010: Condition Assessments April 17 to 28, 2023  

MS 202: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture April 3 to 28, 2023  

MS 214: Collections Management Databases April 3 to 28, 2023

MS 259: The Volunteer Handbook  April 3 to May 12, 2023

May

MS 211: Preservation Environments May 1 to June 10, 2023 

MS 272: Exhibit rehab - Breathing New Life Into Old Exhibits May 1 to 26, 2023  

July

MS 207: Cataloging Your Collection July 3 to 31, 2023 

MS 267: Museum Ethics July 3 to 31, 2023   

MS 271: Training for Interpretive Trainers July 3 to 31, 2023   

August

MS217: Museum Cleaning Basics August 7 to September 1, 2023  

MS 203: Museum Storage Techniques August 7 to September 1, 2023  

MS109: Museum Management (5 weeks) August 7 to September 8, 2023

September

MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs September 4 to 29, 2023

MS227: Care of Paintings September 4 to October 14, 2023

MS 268: Creating Interpretive Gallery Tours September 4 to 29, 2023  

MS303: Found in Collections: Orphans, Old Loans and Abandoned Property September 4 to 29, 2023    

October

MS 204: Materials for Storage and Display October 2 to 27, 2023   

MS 234: Archives Management October 2 to 27, 2023    

November

MS 007: The Mission Statement: Is it really that important? November 6 to 17, 2023  

MS 218: Collection Inventories November 6 to December 4, 2023  

MS 211: Preservation Environments November 6 to December 15, 2023

MS 212: Care of Textiles November 6 to December 4, 2023  

MS273: Advanced Interpretive Techniques -Interpreting the "rest of the story" November 6 to December 4, 2023