No Subject

[Jan Burandt <3dwoman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "W.Walsh" <3dshooter@xxxxxxx>
>Can someone tell me a safe way to clean slides or is just
>best to leave them the way they are.

>Bill
You aren't specific about the reason you need to clean the slides.  I
collect slides from the 50's & 60's and most of the old stereo slides I've
seen were dusty from being in old cardboard mounts and housed in dirty
attics. (Even slides sandwiched between glass have this dust problem if
they are in cardboard mounts. ) I have found that blowing the dust off the
surface (with a bulb type blower that you use to clean a baby's nose....not
cans of air which can also spray liquid on your slides) works well and
usually is all that needs to be done. Keep a VERY soft natural bristle
brush around to dust the surface after blowing the dust off, only if
needed.  If you keep a light box and a lupe around while you do this,
you'll see that a certain amount of the spots on your slides are embedded
into the surface or are scratches in the surface, that no amount of
cleaning will cure. (By the way I'm sure it's obvious to anyone who has
thought of it that if you ever have to remove old stereoslides from glass
mounts with tape around the edges: that TAPE creates a real mess when you
take it off, dust everywhere, so you have to be diligent about keeping your
working surface clean, if you don't want to wind up with more dust than
when you started!)

I would recommend avoiding any liquid cleaners, especially if they are
proprietary (ingredients not ALL disclosed). You don't know what is in
there, and you can't trust the ingredients to stay consistent over time. If
you really care about your slides, I wouldn't do anything to them that
can't be undone later.

Also, finding a good storage box is important. I've been using Plano model
3700 storage boxes, they are made for fishing gear I think, I've found them
in hardware or sporting goods stores. The interior of the box has movable
dividers which just happen to divide the tray into 3 rows of stereoslides
with 4 sections per row (with wiggle room).  Each section will hold about
35 cardboard mounted slides or 15 in RBT mounts. This is great for
separating subject matter, trips, etc. because the dividers can be moved
anywhere within the row to make the sections larger or smaller. The lid
snaps shut and keeps your slides dust free.

Good luck,
Jan Burandt
3dwoman@xxxxxxxxxxx


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