Dear Lee

We’ve used Paraloid B72 to consolidate a range of weird old organic materials and found that a few practical tips really help.

Place the item on a piece of PTFE cloth or silicone baking parchment in a polythene box which has a well-fitting lid.

Try a solution of about 10% Paraloid in acetone (weight/volume) – dilute further if it won’t absorb quickly and pipette small amounts onto the surface, allowing it to be absorbed. Keep pipetting until the surface is all darkened and the fungus won’t absorb any more. If it has formed a pool of resin underneath you can lift it onto another area of the paper. Don’t worry if there’s a small amount of drips as you can dissolve it off later.

Put the lid on the box and leave the fungus to absorb the resin slowly. The higher concentration of acetone in the box really helps to prevent the surface staying dark or developing a shine.

If there are any drips of excess resin, you can cut them off with a scalpel and then gently remove any residue from the surface with a swab of acetone.

You may need a more concentrated solution in damaged areas.

 

Paraloid B72, besides being incredibly stable, allows organic materials to retain some of their flexibility and enables you to join fragments as well.

 

Let us know how it goes!

All the best

Helena

 

 

Afternoon all,

 

I am hoping someone might have some experience of using resins to protect/preserve freeze dried plant or fungal material, to make them more durable if handled or on sow

 

I have some super sexy freeze dried fungi and am looking to see if anyone has tried before using resin to reserve them longer term. I was thinking a thinned down paraloid as it is less viscous, but am open to suggestions.

 

Thanks

 

 

Lee Davies

Fungarium Curator

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

+44 208 332 5314

 

www.kew.org

 

 

 

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body with exempt charitable status, whose principal place of business is at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom.

The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you have received this message in error, please return it immediately and permanently delete it. Do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this email or in any attachment.

Any views expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RBG Kew.

Any files attached to this email have been inspected with virus detection software by RBG Kew before transmission, however you should carry out your own virus checks before opening any attachments. RBG Kew accepts no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses.