From Alice Mask
Date: 97-01-13

In Craft & Needlework Age there's an article called "Acid Free & Other Terms to Know" by Laura Caiaccia. This article is talking about photos and scrapbooks, but the information is transferrable. Here's some info. Hope you find it interesting:

Acidic papers and adhesives are two of the biggest culprits in destroying precious paper and photographic mementos. Acid paper affects everything around it, turning it yellow and brittle.

Acidic adhesives can also cause discoloration, not to mention a sticky residue.

The best advice to give your customers is to tell them they must decide how long they'd like their scrapbook to last. With ordinary materials they can expect their hard work to disappear after ten years. If they'd like their children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to read it, they should take the time to use the right products and techniques. When in doubt about what the correct technique is, tell them to follow this simple rule: do nothing to the object that cannot be reversed without damage.

Definitions:

acid free paper: (also called Neutral pH paper) this is paper that has been manufactured such that acids, which will cause the paper to deteriorate over time, changing color and becoming more brittle, are removed or eliminated. Acid-free paper can be made from virtually any cellulose fiber source.

buffered: the presence of an alkaline buffer in a paper or tape will reduce the damaging effects of acid on those items. The most common buffering additive is calcium carbonate. This buffering agent will keep the pH of the product at a slightly alkaline or neutral level, however, over time, as the buffer works to neutralize acids, it will lose its effectiveness.

rag board/rag papers: boards or papers made with non-wood products, such as cotton linters or cotton, which are naturally lignin free, stable, and durable.

lightfast: paper, ink, or dye color which is resistant to change from aging or from exposure to light, heat, or other adverse conditions. Also called colorfast or fade resistant.

lignin and ligning-free: lignin is the natural binding constituent of the cells of wood and plant stalks. Lignin is the cement that binds plants together. It is chemically unstable, and highly heat and light sensitive, causing yellowing and weakness in paper. It becomes acidic as it breaks down, and for this reason unrefined wood pulp is used to make papers which do not require a long life-span such as newsprint. Since lignin can be removed during chemical processing, there are papers that are lignin free.

museum board/paper: (also conservation board/paper) a term generally used to mean the same as permanent paper or board.

archival quality: a term now loosely used to refer to a material that can be used without deleterious effects in the conservation or care of important objects. These items are designed to have very good aging properties.

permanent papers: paper made to resist the effects of aging to a greater degree than is usual than other papers. Usually acid-free, such paper is used for archival or other purposes.