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Peter Roberts
6-Jun-2005, 19:16
I am talking with a sleeve maker to produce some custom made film sleeves to my odd size positive and negative films. Minimun quantity is 5,000 pcs which I think to be reasonable.

Now, it comes to the material which affects the price. I shall put my positive and negative films in this sleeve and directly view them by a light box. And this sleeve should protect films from scatch and have long term archival function. There are 3 materials quoted by the maker and they are:

DuPont polyester 3 mil thickness

PVC clear material 4 mil

Archivel Pro 2 mil

Which one is your suggestion to make the film sleeve to suit my purpose?

Thanks for your advice in advance.

Antonio Corcuera
7-Jun-2005, 01:48
Hi Peter,
Having some experience in photo archives, I can tell you PVC is your only pick if you are really concerned about archival issues. It is the most expensive of the three, but since you are having the sleeves custom made you might as well get the best.
cheers, Antonio

Tom Westbrook
7-Jun-2005, 07:58
See www.loc.gov/preserv/care/photo.html (http://www.loc.gov/preserv/care/photo.html) for info on archival storage materials. PVC is not recommended:

Commonly available PVC slide pages, easily identified by their strong plastic odor, should never be used because of their extreme chemical reactivity... Suitable plastic enclosures are uncoated polyester film, uncoated cellulose triacetate, polyethylene, and polypropylene.

I'd go with the Dupont Polyester. It's clearer than the Polypro and has a bit of stiffness that helps with handling of film. It's also going to be more expensive.

Oren Grad
7-Jun-2005, 08:05
NO!

Do NOT use PVC.

www.loc.gov/preserv/presfaq.html#5 (http://www.loc.gov/preserv/presfaq.html#5)

www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-locale=en_US&pq-path=431 (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-locale=en_US&pq-path=431)

www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/membersGallery/archiving/pagesToAvoid.shtml (http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/membersGallery/archiving/pagesToAvoid.shtml)

tim atherton
7-Jun-2005, 08:05
As a former technical specialist in a photo archives I'd suggest not going near PVC for film storage. I'd also suggest the 3mil Duont Polyester out of those choices.

Bob Salomon
7-Jun-2005, 08:06
Polypropylene is the material used by most manufacturers of archival pages in the USA.

tim atherton
7-Jun-2005, 08:27
One problem with Polypropylene is some manufacturers put on a surface coating to enable negatives to slip in and out more easily. But the coating is problematic from an archival point of view. The type of Polyester such as the Dupont mentioned, or in several different Dupont brand names such as Mylar, Melinex etc is by far the best (if usually the most expensive).

In addition, some Polypropylene also has additives to make the material "softer" and easier to handle. This also can also have a negative effect.

Al Seyle
7-Jun-2005, 18:12
I'm no chemist but if the film base itself is polyester, wouldn't that logically be the best choice?

Paul Butzi
7-Jun-2005, 18:16
I didn't like the polyester/mylar/melinex interleaving folders from Light Impressions. On some occasions, the sharp corners and edges scratched negatives.

I switched to the polypropylene interleaving folders, again from LI. At the time of my last order they were claiming no slip agents in them.

The polypropylene sure takes less of a static charge than the polyester. But the polyester is more clear.

tim atherton
7-Jun-2005, 19:02
Paul, the Pro-Line polypro stuff is pretty good. Last time I saw the testing by the CCI (which was a fgew years ago) this didn't have any weird stuff in or on it...

http://www.filmguard.com/pro-line/

Antonio Corcuera
8-Jun-2005, 01:45
sorry for the misinformation--- guess I shouldn't post so early in the morning when the memory switch is off ;-)
must have said polypropylene...

tor kviljo
9-Jun-2005, 04:11
Just a bit of info which might be interesting for You: For years, I have custom-made my own "odd" sleeves when ordinary single or 4x 4"x5" or 3 strips 120-film did not fill he bill. Using either Vue-all 8"x10" sleeves from Freestyle, or a hideously large roll of 70mm sleeving from ebay, I have used this material for customizing 6x17 cm, 70mm-singles or strips, single 6x7cm sleeves, double or single 5"x7" sleeves etc. I use a common available bag-sealer (a hot-iron melting seams of plastic together) to make the seams. Sealing process about 3 seconds each seam. I bought the bag-sealer second hand & cheap, but probably is not any expensive device. ordinary 230V (Europe) and built-in adjustable timer (1 to 10 seconds or so) for making correct seal on different types & gauges of plastic. May be a cheaper alternative than having to buy 5000 custom made sleeves...

tor kviljo
12-Jun-2005, 12:27
Hello Ken! I have no spesial knowledge on plastic types, but I have used the sealer on the poypropylen sleeves from Freestyle (I belive the roll of 70mm sleeve I have is also PP) and I have re-used the acatat-like (i.e. a "harder plastic/more brittle than PP) sleeves that I get lab-developed 120 film in to make small single-pockets for 6x4,5 neg's. This types have worked excellent in the machine = good & strong seams. Apart from having to change heat-time to get correct seal (to much = holes, too little = seams go apart) depending on gauge & plastic type , the types I have tried all seals nicely together as I am shure the PVC (?) freezer bags will also. I live in Norway = probably on the other side of the pond from You, but feel free to send me a letter with samples of material for testing, and I will try to make seams on the material & return to you - will only be letter postage. Email me for address if interested.