Digital BW, The Print

15 minutes in a bag/zip lock with ammonia is all that is needed to deacidify
EAM (meaning the Abbey pH test pen shows good purple - pH higher than 6.8 -
even on interior fibers).  Of course, no buffer is introduced with just the
ammonia treatment.  Bookkeeper spray to the back is probably the best we can
do for buffering future acid production.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com
__________________________________
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Paul Roark [mailto:paul.roark@...]
  Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 5:31 PM
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: RE: [Digital BW] EAM Deacidification


  The ammonia deacidification does not affect the printing at all from what
I
  can tell.  The dMax, etc. is the same as with a non-treated EAM.

  Paul
  http://www.PaulRoark.com
  _________________________________
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Paul Roark [mailto:paul.roark@...]
    Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 8:40 AM
    To: DigitalB&WPrint
    Subject: [Digital BW] EAM Deacidification


    I don't have a 100% solution to this problem yet, but there is some news
  to
    report.

    First, the Bookkeeper spray on the back has not raised the pH of the
    interior fibers enough to see a difference with an acid test pen.  It
may
    never, but that may be more about the limited test abilities of the pen
  than
    the effectiveness of Bookkeeper deacidification spray.

    The maker of Bookkeeper has not tested EAM yet.  They have purchased
some
    and will get to it when time permits.  Hopefully their tests will tell
us
    more about whether the acidity can be lowered enough to stop the
  yellowing.

    Ammonia does deacidify EAM.  Ammonia is a gas -- NH3 -- that is usually
    dissolved in water for household use.  It is an effective
deacidification
    agent.  Not only does a weak liquid solution totally deacidify the
entire
    EAM, but the fumes alone do it.  I put an open cap-full of household
  ammonia
    and an EAM sample in a zip lock bag overnight.  By morning, the entire
    EAM -- surfaces and interior fibers -- tested as acid-free with the test
    pen.

    So, I've found an easy way to deacidify EAM.  However, there are at
least
  2
    caveats.  First, ammonia gas does not leave a buffer.  So, while the EAM
  may
    be "acid free" today, whatever it is in the EAM that is causing the
  acidity
    may re-acidify the paper quickly.  Second, the de-acidification may
affect
    printing -- lowering the dMax among other things.  I'll test this soon.

    On the back of one of the ammonia-deacidified test strips I've sprayed
    Bookkeeper, which will add a buffer at least to the back of the paper.
My
    testing ability with the pen limits the extent that I can measure the
  change
    in pH of the interior fibers.  That plus uncertainty as to what pH level
    causes the yellowing may stop us from ever having hard information on
the
    long run effectiveness of deacidification procedures.  However, these
easy
    procedures may do enough to put the yellowing problem off so many years
  that
    it is a moot issue.

    Speaking of yellowing, my fade testing suggests that the new batches of
  EAM
    may have fewer optical brighteners.  At least the yellowing I see in my
  fade
    tests appears to have been reduced.  I think that Epson changed the
  coating
    formula to lessen the yellowing -- with the unfortunate lessening of the
    dMax.  Perhaps they (also?) put (more?) buffers in the coating. (The
  coating
    has never tested as acidic the way the paper base does.)

    Paul
    http://www.PaulRoark.com



          Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
                ADVERTISEMENT





    Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
  other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

    If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
  unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
  page.

    Please follow these basic guidelines:
    - Include your full name with your message.
    - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
    - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to
keep
  them short.
    - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject
header.
    - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or
  "flames."
    - Complete your Yahoo profile.
    - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
  resources on the homepage.




    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
              ADVERTISEMENT





  Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

  If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
page.

  Please follow these basic guidelines:
  - Include your full name with your message.
  - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
  - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
  - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
  - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or
"flames."
  - Complete your Yahoo profile.
  - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.




  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]