How to Highlight/Preserve Plant Imprints

[Bguild]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm new to the prepping world and have a couple of questions that hopefully you can help me with. I have a number of Pennsylvanian aged plant imprints that I found and I am wondering if there is any prep work that needs to be done to keep them in pristine condition. As of now I have not done anything to them. These fossils are on dark gray slabs of shale and are a bit hard to see without proper lighting.

 

Questions:

 

1.) Is there a way to highlight the imprints on the dark shale to make them stand out more? They're a similar color to the shale and are hard to see without lighting.

 

2.) Is there anything that should be done to help preserve these imprints over time? For example, should these fossils be coated in anything to help preserve them, or am I okay leaving them as is?

 

 

As always thanks for the input!

[Ptychodus04]

Typically, leafy fossils are extremely delicate and are often simply carbon and a flatulent mouse can make them disappear. I use a very fine artists' paint brush to apply a very dilute PVA solution to preserve them. This also has the added effect of providing just enough contrast to make them stand out better.

 

PVA or Butvar can be had on the internet easily and inexpensively. The solution I use is 50 parts acetone to 1 part PVA by volume.

 

If the fossils are in an area indoors and where they won't be touched, they can usually be displayed without any type of preservation method though... If you don't want to mess with it.

[Fossildude19]

There is a member on the Forum  (Tom Buckley) that uses dextrin as an easy solution to making the fossils stand out more from the rock. 

Others have used fixatives, including hairspray, to conserve the fossils. 

Whatever you use, make sure it is easily reversible. 

Regards,

 

[Bguild]

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

There is a member on the Forum  (Tom Buckley) that uses dextrin as an easy solution to making the fossils stand out more from the rock. 

Others have used fixatives, including hairspray, to conserve the fossils. 

Whatever you use, make sure it is easily reversible. 

Regards,

 

 

Thanks for the tip! I read through the post and the results from using dextrin look great. The only question I have is whether this solution will also help protect the imprints. I want to keep the fragile imprints from getting "rubbed off" over the years.

 

Any ideas how much Dextrin should be diluted in the water?

[Fossildude19]

@Bguild

Glad I could help.  

 

I'm not sure, but you could ask Tom Buckley via PM.  

Regards,

[Ptychodus04]

But, is dextrin an accepted conservation material in museums? If not, ,should we really espouse materials that aren't proven to have long term positive attributes? I'm not slamming it, honestly asking the question. PVA, Butvar, and Paraloid are all acceptable materials used by professionals.

[Bguild]

 

18 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

But, is dextrin an accepted conservation material in museums? If not, ,should we really espouse materials that aren't proven to have long term positive attributes? I'm not slamming it, honestly asking the question. PVA, Butvar, and Paraloid are all acceptable materials used by professionals.

 

This is article I found mentions the use of dextrin. Apparently dextrine solution doesn't double as a protectant though.

http://paleo.cc/kpaleo/fossprep.htm

 

Do you happen to have an image of one of your imprints that was coated in PVA? You mention you mix 1 part PVA into 50 parts acetone by volume. Is this solution diluted in water or heated... etc? 

 

 

[Ptychodus04]

I'll try to get some pics tonight.  PVA is a solid plastic bead when you get it and it is soluble in acetone and alcohol. the 1 part PVA to 50 parts acetone yields a VERY thin solution. Water is the nemesis of this as it will turn it milky white.

[Bguild]

Excellent. Thanks for the helping out a newbie!  

 

Should I be coating the entire plates in PVA or just lightly going over the imprints with a small paint brush?

[Ptychodus04]

17 hours ago, Bguild said:

Excellent. Thanks for the helping out a newbie!  

 

Should I be coating the entire plates in PVA or just lightly going over the imprints with a small paint brush?

 

Here's a pic of some leaves treated with PVA.

 

Coating the whole slab is determined by the stability of the matrix itself. If the shale is crumbling, then you are going to want to treat the whole thing to keep it together. If it isn't, then you can do only the fossils. If you treat the whole slab, you will lose the contrast part of the exercise as everything will get PVA. Once all is dry, you can go back in with acetone and a toothbrush and scrub off the surface PVA on the matrix making it a little less glossy.

[Bguild]

57 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

Here's a pic of some leaves treated with PVA.

 

Coating the whole slab is determined by the stability of the matrix itself. If the shale is crumbling, then you are going to want to treat the whole thing to keep it together. If it isn't, then you can do only the fossils. If you treat the whole slab, you will lose the contrast part of the exercise as everything will get PVA. Once all is dry, you can go back in with acetone and a toothbrush and scrub off the surface PVA on the matrix making it a little less glossy.

 

Awesome looking stuff! The results from the PVA you're showing here are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. It adds a nice contrast and doubles as the protectant I'll need since my imprints are quite fragile. 

 

Can Acetone from the drugstore be used (nail polish remover) if it is 100% acetone? Since I'm new at this, how long should I expect before the PVA beads are fully dissolved in the Acetone? For this project I'm planning to mix 500 milliliters of Acetone into 10 milliliters of PVA (beads).

[Ptychodus04]

3 hours ago, Bguild said:

 

Awesome looking stuff! The results from the PVA you're showing here are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. It adds a nice contrast and doubles as the protectant I'll need since my imprints are quite fragile. 

 

Can Acetone from the drugstore be used (nail polish remover) if it is 100% acetone? Since I'm new at this, how long should I expect before the PVA beads are fully dissolved in the Acetone? For this project I'm planning to mix 500 milliliters of Acetone into 10 milliliters of PVA (beads).

 

Get your acetone from a hardware store. The pricing will be better and nail polish remover has other stuff in it. The PVA in this solution will dissolve very quickly. I measure the acetone into a glass bottle first, then the PVA. Put the lid on and shake like crazy for a minute and you're good to go. The solution dries almost instantly when applied in thin layers and you can keep adding more until you are satisfied with the results. For very fragile bits, lightly touch the wet brush tip to the specimen and the solution will wick into it.

[Bguild]

Any suggestions for a website where you can get PVA beads?

[Ptychodus04]

I order my PVA from The Black Hills Institute. http://www.bhigr.com/store/product.php?productid=262&cat=37&page=1

 

A lot of people use Butvar (PVB) as their consolidant of choice as it sets just a little bit harder than PVA. I actually use this when prepping for the Perot Museum as it is their go to product. The best price I've seen is here: http://museumservicescorporation.mybigcommerce.com/butvar-b-76/

 

 

I mix 1 pint of PVA with 1 gallon of acetone in a large (clean) laundry detergent jug, shake it up, and let it sit overnight. This yields an approximately 25:1. From this, I add additional acetone to small amounts of solution as needed for the 50:1 solution.

[Bguild]

2 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I order my PVA from The Black Hills Institute. http://www.bhigr.com/store/product.php?productid=262&cat=37&page=1

 

A lot of people use Butvar (PVB) as their consolidant of choice as it sets just a little bit harder than PVA. I actually use this when prepping for the Perot Museum as it is their go to product. The best price I've seen is here: http://museumservicescorporation.mybigcommerce.com/butvar-b-76/

 

 

I mix 1 pint of PVA with 1 gallon of acetone in a large (clean) laundry detergent jug, shake it up, and let it sit overnight. This yields an approximately 25:1. From this, I add additional acetone to small amounts of solution as needed for the 50:1 solution.

 

Thanks for the tips! I saw the PVA from Black Hill's Institute, but the shipping to my location is more than the actual product. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet. 

 

For the couple small plates of plant imprints I plan to coat I hopefully won't need a whole laundry detergent jugs worth of PVA solution haha. I'll start with a small batch of solution!

[goatinformationist]

This has been a most informative thread and I wish to thank all of the participants.

[Ptychodus04]

5 minutes ago, Bguild said:

 

Thanks for the tips! I saw the PVA from Black Hill's Institute, but the shipping to my location is more than the actual product. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet. 

 

For the couple small plates of plant imprints I plan to coat I hopefully won't need a whole laundry detergent jugs worth of PVA solution haha. I'll start with a small batch of solution!

 

Send me a PM with your address and I'll throw some PVA beads in a plastic bottle and mail them to you.

[Ptychodus04]

3 minutes ago, goatinformationist said:

This has been a most informative thread and I wish to thank all of the participants.

 

Gladly. I'm always happy to drone on about topics I enjoy... Just ask my wife.

[Bguild]

2 minutes ago, Ptychodus04 said:

 

Send me a PM with your address and I'll throw some PVA beads in a plastic bottle and mail them to you.

 

What a kind gesture  Just another reason why I love this forum!

[goatinformationist]

Our wives MUST NEVER meet.  Best.

[Ptychodus04]

2 hours ago, Bguild said:

 

What a kind gesture  Just another reason why I love this forum!

 

PM received and a recreational use amount of PVA will be heading your way shortly.

[Bguild]

I finally got a chance to try out the PVA, Acetone solution on my plant imprints. Here are a couple of the imprints I coated. I'm certainly happy with the final results. The PVA solution did a nice job of highlighting the fossils and should help preserve these fragile imprints. Thanks to everyone who pointed me in the right direction! Especially Kris ^^^ for providing the PVA beads . I still have a good amount left for future projects. Much appreciated!

 

[Bguild]

One more

 

[Fossildude19]

They came out nice!

Thanks for the update. 

Regards,

[Ptychodus04]

Great job. They really came out nice. They will last forever now.

 

And, you're quite welcome for the PVA sample.