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  Storing Spacesuit Gloves?

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Author Topic:   Storing Spacesuit Gloves?
7 Forty7
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posted 03-04-2007 07:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for 7 Forty7   Click Here to Email 7 Forty7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Can anyone advise me on how best to store a pair of Sokol gloves? At the moment I have them wrapped in paper and boxed - would this be sufficient?

Rick Mulheirn
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From: England
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posted 03-04-2007 08:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Might I suggest you use a piece of ethafoam inserted fairly loosly into each glove to give them support and display them in a cabinet with sufficient gap around the lid or door to allow air movement. Keep them out of direct sunlight and keep them away from any kind of heat source ie. radiator or convector heater. In an ideal world temperature should be a cool 50 to 60 degrees F but we have to be realistic here.

If the Apollo suit archive is anything to go by wrapping them up and putting them in a drawer or cabinet will do them more harm in the long term.

Philip
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posted 03-06-2007 11:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philip   Click Here to Email Philip     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Keeping these out of sunlight is the most important.

Richard
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From: Morrisonville, New York USA
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posted 03-06-2007 11:25 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Richard   Click Here to Email Richard     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have some of mine displayed in acrylic boxes. Would you recomend me drilling holes in the back for air flow movement?

gikev
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posted 03-06-2007 11:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gikev   Click Here to Email gikev     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ideally you should keep the gloves completely away from light. For storage, Amanda Young at NASM uses Hollanger acid-free archive boxes.
I'm not sure of the long term consequences for storing anything in a plastic box...

Rick Mulheirn
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posted 03-06-2007 03:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You make a perfectly valid point about keeping the gloves in acid free boxes and out of sunlight. But, at the risk of sounding pervy, looking at such artifacts is pleasurable. I want to enjoy my collection; lets face it, that is why we do it.

I think you have to come to a sensible compromise. The suit archive is kept in a cool dark room with air conditioning because many of the materials that make up the suits degrade with time. If my memory serves me right, one of the by-products of this process (from latex components like gloves and suit liners) is a weak hydrochloric gas; Without the air movement they would stew in their own destructive yet invisible fog.

The NASM have allowed a John Young Apollo 10 suit to be displayed at the ILC Dover plant in Delaware. But it is my understanding that ILC had to make special provision for the suit by having a bespoke display cabinet made at a cost of some $10,000 (though don't quote me on that figure). The cabinet I believe is temperature controlled and allows for air movement.

Sadly, I don't have a spare $10,000 so have to make do the best I can. A glass cabinet in the darkest corner of a room which has the blinds permanently closed. The radiators are turned to their lowest setting in the winter and off the rest of the year.The cabinet door has a half inch gap all round for ventilation. My Apollo glove has ethafoam inserted loosely for support and is held on a stand that allows air into the glove. If I handle the glove I wear archivist cotton gloves.

Do the best you can for your own circumstances but don't forget to enjoy the hobby.

If it is good enough for ILC and NASM it is good enough for me.

Richard
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From: Morrisonville, New York USA
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posted 03-06-2007 03:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Richard   Click Here to Email Richard     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I guess then I will definitely get holes placed in the boxes. But why does storing them in acrylic display cases hurt the integrity of the item. I believe that the ones I have are UV protected.

David Mather
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posted 03-06-2007 05:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Mather   Click Here to Email David Mather     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is worth remembering that all plastics are solvent based and therefore give off potentially harmfull vapours over time - this is why new cars smell the way they do and why old plastics become brittle. MDF is best avoided as it gives off so much vapour that its use in a domestic environment is strictly controlled in the USA. I would recommend supporting the fingers of your gloves internally with a white bleach-free cotton glove as used by photographers stuffed with cotton wool or bleach-free cotton. A glass case is always preferable as glass is inert and filters UV light, whereas an enclosed acrylic case leaves nowhere for the evaporating solvents to go. OK short term, otherwise wouldn't bet on the rubber being too happy after 5 years. Otherwise, enjoy!

Richard
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posted 03-06-2007 06:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Richard   Click Here to Email Richard     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wow! This is some great information. So, what is MDF? Furthermore, I currently have 2 items displayed in what I think are acrylic boxes which I had professionally designed for these pieces. Would you recomend scrapping these or is there something I could do to prevent deterioration of the gloves while in the boxes. Glass cases, in my opinion, California are not ideal in that although earthquakes are rare, they do occur. What would be an alternative?

David Mather
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posted 03-07-2007 06:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Mather   Click Here to Email David Mather     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
MDF -medium density fibreboard -is a light tan coloured material that produces a fine dust/'fluff' when machined. It machines well and is used extensively in buildings for interior windowcills, door linings, skirting board. It is like a super-dense version of chipboard that paints well. Most display case bases that are not solid wood are probably veneered MDF. I think it is important not to get too paranoid, ratherto be aware that these materials are not as inert as they seem. I would keep your acrylic cases (Perspex/Lucite) but keep out of direct sunlight - UV rays are the fastest way of fogging acrylic and releasing all those solvents! If the joints are made up, they probably used a version of MEK or cyanoacrylate (Superglue!)and we don't want to get into those vapours! Always think a simple cotton dust cover is best. Bottom line is no one knows how thse space items will fare - they just haven't been around long enough. One thing is for sure, they will harden and deteriorate over time it's just a matter of when...

Rick Mulheirn
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From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 03-07-2007 09:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Re: putting cotton gloves inside latex gloves to maintain their shape I asked the chief suit archivist at Garber what she does with gloves. Her response was as follows...
"I usually leave them -- I make a mannequin for the wider part of the glove though... I have on occasion put a cotton glove inside the fingers, but that is difficult to do and of dubious value... Pushing the fingers of the cotton glove into the glove fingers causes stress and the only way to do it really is to put the glove on and then put your hand into the EV glove -- all becomes difficult and so I normally don't do it..."

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