Cel Preservation research paper

pixie_princess · Post by **pixie_princess** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:29 pm

I was wondering if anyone has ever stumbled across this:
http://library2.jfku.edu/Museum_Studies ... torage.pdf

My husband stumbled across this today on his lunch hour and sent me the link. He's been working on helping me preserve our cels as best we can.

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:39 pm

Very interesting research paper! Thanks for sharing!

Post by **sensei** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:08 pm

It's unfortunate that the thesis does not discuss trace lines. It looks to be very good on cellulose nitrate art (e.g., classic Disney) and rather more vague on acetate art (silver-age Disney and anime). Nevertheless, the recommendations on pp. 63-69 seem sensible and should be more widely disseminated and used as a standard. Scanning on arrival, and regular comparison of the cel against the scan to watch for trouble, should certainly be SOP.

I'm very interested in the new Microchamber conservation technology and have been adding sheets of this paper into my sketch art bags. I'm not sure how to do so with cels, as I assume that they would in short order stick to the paint. This is one area where I think sharing of information would be useful.

Also a shame that Ms. Saracino did not stumble on Anime-Beta or Animanga during her research, as there seem to be more widely experienced curators in these groups than she was able to find by surveying conventional museums and libraries.

Thanks for sharing, p_p

Sui Kune · Post by **Sui Kune** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:38 pm

Wow, that was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

It's got me thinking about how a couple of my cels, including a newly-arrived one, have Vinegar Syndrome, and I want to ask SR Labs about any special precautions with that the next time they call me.

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:38 pm

I thought it was quite interesting how on one of the recommendations for nitrate cels were to open up the frames and air them out once a year for 48 hours. I can guarantee you NOBODY I have known ever does that. When I frame, I keep the back unsealed in order to let some air circulate, but a lot of frames I receive are completely sealed off from air. I have not really seen any changes during the years I have had those cels. So, I really do not know HOW effective this really is.

I spoke to a conservationist that has been conserving vintage Disney cels (and the like) for almost 30-40 years (can't quite remember the time frame, but a VERY long time). They used to do experiments with different nitrate based paint to see if the paints would deteriorate the cel in different speeds. If I remember, they mentioned blues caused a faster deterioration (as in the colors fading, and the cels yellowing faster) then any other color. What they did also mention was with most nitrate based cels, they would begin deteriorating within the first few years, and then stabilize after that, so long as they are not exposed to extreme conditions like UV light, water, fire, etc. I thought that was very interesting.

iceman57 · Post by **iceman57** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:25 pm

p.8-40-66, p.47 : About Mellinex(R), wrote as non recommended in water environment due to the risk of being sticky to paint (p.8-40-66), and in the opposit interesting to cover background (p.47).

According to conservation professor and restorator, I do currently use 23 microns Mellinex sheets (approx. 6 times thiner than a regular cel) to separate cels and background in order to preserve background integrity.
I do consider that the risk of damaging the background (spot that melts with the touching cel) is higher and extremelly recurring than to stick to an extra thin layer that can be removed (if sticked) by art restorators.
There are always hard choices to make in conservation process adapted to private collectors: storage area, costs of operations, what to preserve in priority, reversability of conservation,...

Post by **JWR** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:35 pm

star-phoenix wrote:
I spoke to a conservationist that has been conserving vintage Disney cels (and the like) for almost 30-40 years (can't quite remember the time frame, but a VERY long time). They used to do experiments with different nitrate based paint to see if the paints would deteriorate the cel in different speeds. If I remember, they mentioned blues caused a faster deterioration (as in the colors fading, and the cels yellowing faster) then any other color. What they did also mention was with most nitrate based cels, they would begin deteriorating within the first few years, and then stabilize after that, so long as they are not exposed to extreme conditions like UV light, water, fire, etc. I thought that was very interesting.

Back in the days when I shot 1000yd rifle a bunch of us did a lot of research and experimentation as to glass colors and light conditions. We found that yellow glass worked best in overcast and other low light conditions. This is due to Yellow being the best at "amplifying" light waves. This also is why one can do serious eye damage by wearing a yellow lens in a brightly lit area or in sunlight. Orange was the next highest followed closely by light Blue.
Best for bright areas was the Browns and Grey tone which is why most sunglasses are in those tones.