RE: pt/pd mounting > not gum related
Camden, this is all theoretical since I have never seen any 50 or 100 year old polyurethane-coated pt prints. But I don't think a polyurethane coating will degrade the platinum print any faster. My concern is with the fact that the coating cannot be removed, so any damage or deterioration to the print or the coating or the adhesion of the coating to the print will be nearly impossible to fix. In contrast, a stained or torn pt print can generally be repaired very satisfactorily. It's impossible to know what kind of damage would happen first. If nothing accidental occurs, then I imagine it would be some kind of cracking/peeling/delaminating/discoloration. Applying a difficult to remove coating or laminate to a piece of paper in the name of protection has been done many times over the past 60 or more years in the archival world. And to my knowledge it has always turned out badly in the end. Granted, no one has used polyurethane. But I have no reason to suspect it would be any better in the end. Gawain Weaver Gawain, you mentioned that from a conservation standpoint polyurethane is a nightmare. Could you elaborate on that a bit? Will it degrade the print faster, or is it simply a matter of cracking/peeling? Camden Hardy camden[at]hardyphotography[dot]net http://www.hardyphotography.net
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