I acquired 2 metal flat files from Craig's List a little while back but have been hesitant to use them for print storage due to their condition.
One is in a noticeably better state than the other. But both are dirty, with small chips of missing paint. The worse of the 2 files has areas of rust in the corners of the drawers.
Based on all of my past research, storing prints via archival methods is a must (which is why I bought metal flat files in the first place). I’m finally ready to take the plunge in order to make these files usable but have several questions before I begin.
• First and foremost—is sharing a drawer with rust hazardous to my paper items (even if they are covered but not sealed and not directly touching the rust)?
• Is there a recommended way of stopping the rust without the risk of harmful out-gassing creating an environment that would be hazardous to my prints?
• What is an archive-safe paint that could be used on my flat files that would not cause harmful out-gassing/would not be physically toxic to my prints? According to Safco, such paints exist as they describe their flat files as having the following properties “Museum/archival quality paint finish ensures that there is no out-gassing and that the atmosphere in the flat files has no acidity or alkalinity (ph) created by the finish” (
http://www.thefilestore.com/itemdetail.asp?GroupID=10037)
• What would be an archive-safe soap/cleaner to use on my dirty files/drawers? Based on my own research, I’ve discovered Vulpex Liquid Soap (
http://www.ote.ie/vulpex-liquid-soap) (MSDS:
http://www.gaylord.com/ad_block/AB7997_VULPEX.pdf). Does anyone have any experience with this product or would there be another product with a higher recommendation?
I really hope I can begin to find some answers. Unfortunately the topic of metal paints/rust products and their effects on paper items is not an easy field to research, as it falls somewhere between object conservation and paper conservation. I have spoken to object conservators who recommend speaking to paper conservators. And I have spoken to paper conservators who simply do not know. Thanks in advance if anyone has any advice!