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Re: "good" plastic vs. "bad" plastic



One thing to consider in selecting a plastic is the support that the
enclosure provides the image.  Polyester (Mylar) is fairly rigid and
provide excellent support for paper images.  Of course, if the photo is on
heavy paper or a card mount, .5 mil polyester won't offer much support :^)

Also, remember that there are many different flavors of plastics, even
the "good" plastics.  Polypropylene can be made with many different
plasticizers, not all of which are great for photos.  Although most
disappear during processing, the residue can be potentially damaging.

Last I heard, Mylar-D was one of the few plastics that was known to be
safe.  But, Mylar is really expensive.

I really prefer plastic to paper.  To view an image in a plastic enclosure,
you have to remove it.  That puts the image at all sorts of risks, from
surface abrasion, to tears if a nick in the edge of the print catches on
the paper, and when it's being viewed there's no protection from
fingerprints, oil residue on gloves, and sneezes.

One of the things that makes Mylar expensive are the welds.  You might look
for a simple, think Mylar sleeve that's folded on the long side with no
welds.  Then, store that inside a paper envelope.

Richard Pearce-Moses

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