On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 21:41:32 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

and use archival quality acid free paper for any that goes in there...

Almost all paper is acid free - when they make it. If you want it to
last, then it needs to be buffered (i.e. an excess of an alkaline filler
added) to ensure that it doesn't become acid in the future. It should
also be made from the right sort of fibre (i.e. not lignin-rich wood
fibre and not produced by an acid rich process). If you take the "pulp"
paper as used for cheap paerbacks and filled it with chalk, the stuff
would still be brittle and acidic a few decades hence.

"Acid free" paper labelled as such is by and large garbage and won't
last a decade. If you want to trust it, then get it from a reputable
maker (and that doesn't include the impressively packaged "Crimson &
Blake" tat sold in the poundshop bookshops, no matter how convincing it
looks). It will also be labelled as "archival" or "buffered", not just
"acid free".

OTOH, avoid buffered materials if you're working with colour
photographs, as they don't like alkalis any more than acids.

--
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