Intermediate Collections Care 4 th November Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Agenda 10:50 Implementing an IPM system 11:15 RH, temperature and light 11:40 Tea/Coffee Break 12:00 Identifying pests and their damage - Practical 12:30 Using and interpreting environmental monitoring - Practical 13:00 LUNCH 13:30 Museum Housekeeping 14:00 Packing museum objects 14:30 Tea/Coffee Break 14:50 Cleaning museum objects - Practical 15:20 Specialist packing for delicate items - Practical 16:00 Q&A with objects and archive conservators 16:20 Session Feedback 16:30 CLOSE
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) A holistic approach to the prevention of pest infection. - Requires active participation by all staff members - Time and energy to monitor and control - Modifying normal practices Prevents an infestation occurring, rather than dealing with the aftermath.
Museum Pests
Museum Pests Birds Mould Insects Rodents Bats
Pest Damage Woodworm damage Moth damage
Silverfish damage Mouse damage
Bat droppings Bird droppings Mould
Insects Not all insects are bad for a museum flies lady birds spiders caterpillars Do not eat the museum collection - Indicate poor household management - Once caught in traps provide food for other insects which may be damaging to collections
Implementing IPM Full staff engagement • Training of staff and volunteers who are actively in the gallery spaces day-to-day Procedures • Quarantine • When an infestation is spotted • Food and drink in the museum Data Collection • Data needs to be collected and interpreted!
Implementing IPM – first year • Set up traps and mark location on a floor plan • Monitor your pest traps monthly • Build up a database of every room and the monthly pest count • Train all staff in pest damage and identification • End of year – interpret data results • Identify areas of high pest activity • Identify types of pest in the museum • Decide which areas of the museum require most monitoring • Set up a monitoring schedule (and stick to it)
Blunder traps Pheromone traps
Insect monitoring with traps Location of traps • Edges of rooms, particularly underneath display cases. • Window sill and door ways • Fire places • Every room in the museum Each trap location should be numbered and located on a museum floor plan. Allows for interpretation of data. Bat cages round blunder traps if you have bats
Insect monitoring Spring Larvae will begin to hatch and eat Watch for insect holes Summer and frass Winter Flying insects noticeable. Very little insect Webbing and insect activity cases on objects Autumn Insects and pest begin to die as weather gets colder
Insect monitoring • Check traps at least four times a year (once a season) and record what you have found • Use your previous data to locate areas of the museum which are high or low risk, low risk traps can be checked less often than those in high risk areas • Check more regularly if possible between May and July • Replace any traps that have insects caught on them or if over a year old
If you find insects • Isolate the affected objects immediately • Check surrounding objects • If you think an object might be infested treat it as if it is until confirmed otherwise • Check your blunder traps • Deal with possible sources of infestation as soon as possible
Infestation treatment - freezing Treatment •Fill any gaps around the object with acid free tissue •Wrap the object in plastic twice •Place in freezer at -20°C to -40°C •At least 1 week •Can double freeze to ensure eggs are killed •Vacuum the object to remove traces of infestation
Infestation treatment - anoxia • For large or fragile items that wont fit or survive freezing treatments • An airtight environment created around the object – Barrier film • Oxygen absorbers are used to chemically trap all the oxygen in the environment • Treatment is measured with ageless eyes
Infestation treatment – Thermo Lignum • For large or fragile items that wont fit or survive freezing treatments • Large numbers of items requiring treatment • Can be used to treat an entire building • Temperature raised to 56˚C but RH maintained level
Infestation treatment - Chemicals • Constrain – water based non toxic insecticide • Do not use directly on objects • This is to treat the area, storage and display cases where an infestation has been found as a protective measure.
Mould • Mould spores are always present in the air • After flood items will become mouldy within 2-3 days Treatment • If mould found in storage highly likely it will return, controlled RH and good housekeeping are your best solution • Mould should be removed from the offending object – brushed down outside or treated with 50:50 water and IMS (by a conservator) • Wear respiratory masks – mould has an accumulative effect.
Other Infestations • Stop up access for rodents and birds • Use traps or pest control companies if needed • Avoid putting poison bait down • Remove caught animals quickly – they will encourage further pests and infestation • If bats are present do not disturb them. Get advice from the Bat Conservation Trust
Environmental monitoring
RH and Temperature – recap RH = relative humidity The amount water vapour in the air as a percentage of the total water vapour the air can hold at any particular temperature. RH and temperature are indirectly proportional to each other. Temp = RH Temp = RH When the RH reaches 100% this is called dew point.
RH and Temperature – recap Safe RH ranges for materials (PAS 198 standards) MATERIAL TEMPERATURE RELATIVE HUMIDITY 5 ° C - 25 ° C paper, prints, watercolours, 30-60% drawings, manuscripts, 5 ° C - 20 ° C photographs 20-50% 5 ° C - 25 ° C textiles 30-60% 5 ° C - 20 ° C 35-60% (2) leather, horn, bone, ivory, wood 5 ° C - 30 ° C ferrous metals less than 18% 5 ° C - 30 ° C non-ferrous metals less than 30% 5 ° C - 30 ° C glass 40-60% 5- 30 ° C ceramics, stone, plaster 40-60% 13 ° C - 20 ° C wax 30-60%
Factors affecting RH In a closed system the only thing to affect RH is temperature: - completely air tight display case! In an open system factors include: Weather Sources of ventilation People – numbers of visitors Cleaning schedule
RH changes in objects Identify the problem before changes in RH damage objects:
RH - monitoring Your greatest weapon in controlling RH is knowledge and data! Annual data Seasonal change Weekly data Weather events Daily data Cleaning routines? Daily heating or opening hours? Second Goal First Goal Stabilise the RH Eliminate extremes
RH - Thermohygrographs Hair Electric All monitoring devices will require calibration annually.
Controlling RH – display cases Time taken to halve the Hygrometric half-time difference between an internal and external humidity. A well sealed display case reduces the hygrometric half- time and creates a ‘micro-environment’ Use silica gel in cases containing metals Buffering materials – wood, fabric, Artzorb
Controlling RH – Gallery spaces Passive measures: Turn the heating up or down Close doors, external and internal Floor mats at front entrance and coat racks Active measures: Dehumidifiers or Humidifiers Insulation and draft proofing Blinds and drawn curtains (solar heat gain)
Light - recap Visible light 50 Lux: 200 Lux : • Textiles and costumes; tapestries; • Oil and tempera paintings watercolours; prints and drawings; • undyed leather manuscripts; miniatures; wallpapers; • horn, bone and ivory gouache; dyed leather; botanical • oriental lacquer specimens, fur and feathers. UV – ultra violet light Highest energy light waves – cause the most damage No allowance for UV light in a museum
Light – Allowances Visible light 200 Lux : 50 Lux: • Textiles and • wallpapers; • Oil and tempera paintings costumes; • gouache; • undyed leather • watercolours; • dyed leather; • horn, bone and ivory • prints and drawings; • botanical specimens, • oriental lacquer • manuscripts; fur and feathers . UV – ultra violet light Highest energy light waves – cause the most damage No allowance for UV light in a museum
Light – measurements and allowances Annual Light Dose – lux hours (Based on 52 weeks – 6 days / wk, 7 hours / day ) Where the max is 200 Lux , this equates to: 450, 000 Lux hours Where the max is 50 Lux , this equates to: 100, 000 Lux hours Blue wool scale Electric spot reader
Light – damage • Causes accumulative damage – no going back • Fading • Plastics and resins – crosslinking and deterioration • Textiles – hardening and weakening of fibres
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