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Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by Richard Smallfield

Hi,
today a friend mentioned that she knew an artist that used hairspray as a fixative for pastels and charcoal drawings, which brought to mind recent discussions of hairspray.

If artists are doing it, maybe it's an old practice and maybe there is some knowledge about its long term implications. 

Obviously print longevity was never a factor in formulating these sprays:)

So I'm wondering if anyone knows of old twenty or thirty year old prints of any kind, that had had the hairspray fixative method of print protection. (Optimising gloss would not have been a factor back then, but maybe protection??)

I've just discovered that with Lyson Print Guard on Eterna Excell or Moab Colorado Gloss I can get fantastic results - virtually no gloss differential with sufficient spraying (two coats minimum).

But these solvent sprays are pretty toxic and I don't like the idea of cans rusting away in the landfill in a few years and releasing their brew into the ground water ... so I wonder if maybe a coat of print guard to seal the print and then some hair spray might be a compromise. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Richard
--
http://smallfield.vze.com

   "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
   --Albert Einstein

Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by Gary Weaver

Well, they used to have to blow through an atomizer. You can do the same thing : ) How retro is that.

gar

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On 3/15/08 at 9:14 PM Richard Smallfield wrote:

>Hi,
>today a friend mentioned that she knew an artist that used hairspray as a
>fixative for pastels and charcoal drawings, which brought to mind recent
>discussions of hairspray.
>
>If artists are doing it, maybe it's an old practice and maybe there is
>some knowledge about its long term implications. 
>
>Obviously print longevity was never a factor in formulating these sprays:)
>
>So I'm wondering if anyone knows of old twenty or thirty year old prints
>of any kind, that had had the hairspray fixative method of print
>protection. (Optimising gloss would not have been a factor back then, but
>maybe protection??)
>
>I've just discovered that with Lyson Print Guard on Eterna Excell or Moab
>Colorado Gloss I can get fantastic results - virtually no gloss
>differential with sufficient spraying (two coats minimum).
>
>But these solvent sprays are pretty toxic and I don't like the idea of
>cans rusting away in the landfill in a few years and releasing their brew
>into the ground water ... so I wonder if maybe a coat of print guard to
>seal the print and then some hair spray might be a compromise. 
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
>Richard
>--
>http://smallfield.vze.com
>
>   "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
>   --Albert Einstein
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
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>YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE
>PRINT YAHOO GROUP.
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by Mark MacKenzie

Hello Gary.

If you are concerned about longevity and the print "presentation" to be 
unchanging after you have printed, dried and coated it then don't use 
hairspray.  It just isn't the way to go.

While there may be a few twenty to thirty year old prints treated with 
hairspray they will be on their very last legs now and will have changed 
markedly.  It is just the chemistry aging kinetics of such materials which 
were never designed for such use or such a "long life".

Back in the 1950's and 1970's when this process was finding some favour 
amongst some artists who were probably cash strapped or used to reaching for 
"whatever" was handy to work with and preserve "the creative moment" we 
found out fairly quickly that such techniques held no merit and should be 
avoided.

If you are concerned about cans with residues try putting a little of the 
preferred solvent into the can and then after swishing this around pour it 
out into a smaller fresh container.  Put a bit more solvent in, swish, pour 
and keep this solvent and coating mixture for use in thinning out the next 
new can of the same coating.  The old can should be allowed to air dry 
completely and then when any minute quantities are solid, the can is much 
more safely disposable as far as ground water contamination goes.

This process is derived from "serial dilution" techniques and is one of the 
best methods for using very little solvent to get rid of the largest amount 
of resin in the can.

If you have kept your old can and its contents clean you may not have to 
filter but if you use this technique it is probably best to filter through 
several doubled layers of cheese cloth placed into a fresh paint filter and 
then pour the saved solvent/resin through this and into a clean jar.  This 
is best done at the time of "swishing" out the original can.  This is a good 
way to keep those print destroying bits of congealed resin off your print 
surface in any case.

Regards

Mark MacKenzie

Director of Conservation/Chief Conservator
Conservation Department
Museum Resources Division, Department of Cultural Affairs
State of New Mexico
Santa Fe, NM



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Weaver" <garww@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 2:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser


Well, they used to have to blow through an atomizer. You can do the same 
thing : ) How retro is that.

gar

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On 3/15/08 at 9:14 PM Richard Smallfield wrote:

>Hi,
>today a friend mentioned that she knew an artist that used hairspray as a
>fixative for pastels and charcoal drawings, which brought to mind recent
>discussions of hairspray.
>
>If artists are doing it, maybe it's an old practice and maybe there is
>some knowledge about its long term implications.
>
>Obviously print longevity was never a factor in formulating these sprays:)
>
>So I'm wondering if anyone knows of old twenty or thirty year old prints
>of any kind, that had had the hairspray fixative method of print
>protection. (Optimising gloss would not have been a factor back then, but
>maybe protection??)
>
>I've just discovered that with Lyson Print Guard on Eterna Excell or Moab
>Colorado Gloss I can get fantastic results - virtually no gloss
>differential with sufficient spraying (two coats minimum).
>
>But these solvent sprays are pretty toxic and I don't like the idea of
>cans rusting away in the landfill in a few years and releasing their brew
>into the ground water ... so I wonder if maybe a coat of print guard to
>seal the print and then some hair spray might be a compromise.
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
>Richard
>--
>http://smallfield.vze.com
>
>   "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
>   --Albert Einstein
>
>

Re: Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by Yvonne Muller

Back in art school when we couldn't afford good fixative, we used
hairspray on pastels & pencil because to use nothing would produce one
hell of a mess.  We didn't concern ourselves with longivity past the
week it took to get a grade.  I would never use it now.  Ask Wilhelm
what he thinks of it.
Yvonne Muller, www.yvonnemuller.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> today a friend mentioned that she knew an artist that used hairspray
as a fixative for pastels and charcoal drawings, which brought to mind
recent discussions of hairspray.
> 
> If artists are doing it, maybe it's an old practice and maybe there
is some knowledge about its long term implications. 
> 
> Obviously print longevity was never a factor in formulating these
sprays:)
> 
> So I'm wondering if anyone knows of old twenty or thirty year old
prints of any kind, that had had the hairspray fixative method of
print protection. (Optimising gloss would not have been a factor back
then, but maybe protection??)
> 
> I've just discovered that with Lyson Print Guard on Eterna Excell or
Moab Colorado Gloss I can get fantastic results - virtually no gloss
differential with sufficient spraying (two coats minimum).
> 
> But these solvent sprays are pretty toxic and I don't like the idea
of cans rusting away in the landfill in a few years and releasing
their brew into the ground water ... so I wonder if maybe a coat of
print guard to seal the print and then some hair spray might be a
compromise. 
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
> 
> Richard
> --
> http://smallfield.vze.com
> 
>    "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
>    --Albert Einstein
>

Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by Gary Weaver

Thanks for the insight, Mark.

I'm filing this in with the great advice I pick-up here. I just grew-up with blowing varnish thru an atomizer. 

gar

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On 3/15/08 at 7:28 AM Mark MacKenzie wrote:

>Hello Gary.
>
>If you are concerned about longevity and the print "presentation" to be 
>unchanging after you have printed, dried and coated it then don't use 
>hairspray.  It just isn't the way to go.
>
>While there may be a few twenty to thirty year old prints treated with 
>hairspray they will be on their very last legs now and will have changed 
>markedly.  It is just the chemistry aging kinetics of such materials which 
>were never designed for such use or such a "long life".
>
>Back in the 1950's and 1970's when this process was finding some favour 
>amongst some artists who were probably cash strapped or used to reaching
>for 
>"whatever" was handy to work with and preserve "the creative moment" we 
>found out fairly quickly that such techniques held no merit and should be 
>avoided.
>
>If you are concerned about cans with residues try putting a little of the 
>preferred solvent into the can and then after swishing this around pour it 
>out into a smaller fresh container.  Put a bit more solvent in, swish,
>pour 
>and keep this solvent and coating mixture for use in thinning out the next 
>new can of the same coating.  The old can should be allowed to air dry 
>completely and then when any minute quantities are solid, the can is much 
>more safely disposable as far as ground water contamination goes.
>
>This process is derived from "serial dilution" techniques and is one of
>the 
>best methods for using very little solvent to get rid of the largest
>amount 
>of resin in the can.
>
>If you have kept your old can and its contents clean you may not have to 
>filter but if you use this technique it is probably best to filter through 
>several doubled layers of cheese cloth placed into a fresh paint filter
>and 
>then pour the saved solvent/resin through this and into a clean jar.  This 
>is best done at the time of "swishing" out the original can.  This is a
>good 
>way to keep those print destroying bits of congealed resin off your print 
>surface in any case.
>
>Regards
>
>Mark MacKenzie
>
>Director of Conservation/Chief Conservator
>Conservation Department
>Museum Resources Division, Department of Cultural Affairs
>State of New Mexico
>Santa Fe, NM
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Gary Weaver" <garww@...>
>To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 2:45 AM
>Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser
>
>
>Well, they used to have to blow through an atomizer. You can do the same 
>thing : ) How retro is that.
>
>gar
>
>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
>On 3/15/08 at 9:14 PM Richard Smallfield wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>today a friend mentioned that she knew an artist that used hairspray as a
>>fixative for pastels and charcoal drawings, which brought to mind recent
>>discussions of hairspray.
>>
>>If artists are doing it, maybe it's an old practice and maybe there is
>>some knowledge about its long term implications.
>>
>>Obviously print longevity was never a factor in formulating these sprays:)
>>
>>So I'm wondering if anyone knows of old twenty or thirty year old prints
>>of any kind, that had had the hairspray fixative method of print
>>protection. (Optimising gloss would not have been a factor back then, but
>>maybe protection??)
>>
>>I've just discovered that with Lyson Print Guard on Eterna Excell or Moab
>>Colorado Gloss I can get fantastic results - virtually no gloss
>>differential with sufficient spraying (two coats minimum).
>>
>>But these solvent sprays are pretty toxic and I don't like the idea of
>>cans rusting away in the landfill in a few years and releasing their brew
>>into the ground water ... so I wonder if maybe a coat of print guard to
>>seal the print and then some hair spray might be a compromise.
>>
>>Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>>
>>Richard
>>--
>>http://smallfield.vze.com
>>
>>   "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
>>   --Albert Einstein
>>
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
>they are often being updated.
>
>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:
>- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
>them short.
>- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
>Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
>membership without notice.
>- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
>printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
>the membership.
>- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
>guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner
>and Moderators. See “Group Topic, Rules and Guidelines” in the Files
>section:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/
>
>BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
>YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE “OWNER” AND
>“MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO
>YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR
>EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF
>PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE 
>“OWNER” AND “MODERATORS” OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN
>ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE
>OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii)
>UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii)
>STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
>YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE
>PRINT YAHOO GROUP.
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Re: [Digital BW] Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by pr_roark

I'm rather picky about what I spray on my prints.  Historically, 
coatings have had all sorts of trouble with yellowing, cracking, and, 
I'm sure, other problems.  One spray I tested for a seller yellowed 
visibly in only 100 hours in my fade testing (about 1 Wilhelm year).

My reading suggested that a good acrylic is about the best with 
respect to yellowing.  Lascaux is pure acrylic and what I was led 
to.  My pastel painter friends also say that while they all change 
the colors slightly, Lascaux is the best they've found.  It also 
lowers the dmax the least on matte papers in my testing.  Lascaux 
does not contain a UV blocker like Premier Art Print Shield, and it 
is not as effective at dealing with reflective artifacts on glossy 
prints.  But for a bit of protection for matte prints that, for 
example, might get damaged in shipping, I find it useful

For glossy paper, where these sprays raise the dmax, or where a UV 
blocker is more important than a better dmax on matte paper, I use 
Print Shield.  The Wilhelm testing gives me some confidense it will 
not yellow.   

In general, I'd rather not have to use these coatings at all.  It's 
simply more efficient to have a workflow that produces a print that 
is ready to use without more work. 

 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Re: Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-15 by the_des_bois

So Print Shield and the likes (Moab Desert Spray, Hanemuhele etc.) do
reduce Dmax on matte papers? I've never noticed this by eye. Or maybe
I just srpay a single light coat so the effect is less?

Can MIS UC clear base be used as an "in printer" protective coating?

Denis

 It also 
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> lowers the dmax the least on matte papers in my testing.  Lascaux 
> does not contain a UV blocker like Premier Art Print Shield, and it 
> is not as effective at dealing with reflective artifacts on glossy 
> prints.  But for a bit of protection for matte prints that, for 
> example, might get damaged in shipping, I find it useful
> 
> For glossy paper, where these sprays raise the dmax, or where a UV 
> blocker is more important than a better dmax on matte paper, I use 
> Print Shield.  The Wilhelm testing gives me some confidense it will 
> not yellow.   
> 
> In general, I'd rather not have to use these coatings at all.  It's 
> simply more efficient to have a workflow that produces a print that 
> is ready to use without more work.

Re: Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-16 by pr_roark

> So Print Shield and the likes (Moab Desert Spray, 
> Hanemuhele etc.) do reduce Dmax on matte papers?

Yes.  


> Can MIS UC clear base be used as an "in printer" 
> protective coating?

What they call their "UC Clear base" is not a very good one, in my 
view.  MIS Gloss Optimizer (glop or go) is better as both a base for 
glossy-compatible inks and as a gloss optimizer.

(UC Clear base makes a fine cleaning fluid when diluted 50% with 
distilled water.)

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Re: Hairspray as Gloss Optimiser

2008-03-16 by the_des_bois

So using MIS UC clear base is mostly useful in a 3MK setup to leave in
carts where no MK is needed (if one dedicate his printer to BW only)
to keep printer in better shape and as an offering to the Clog Gods? 
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> > Can MIS UC clear base be used as an "in printer" 
> > protective coating?
> 
> What they call their "UC Clear base" is not a very good one, in my 
> view.  MIS Gloss Optimizer (glop or go) is better as both a base for 
> glossy-compatible inks and as a gloss optimizer.
> 
> (UC Clear base makes a fine cleaning fluid when diluted 50% with 
> distilled water.)
> 

>

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