Thread: Lacquering hone to preserve label

I'm very much with Tim. Nail-polish and urushi are not the best choices to seal labels: thick, bubbly, shiny ugly. But I do like my hones both clean and usable, and I think we should try to preserve labels. Preferably avoiding non-reversible methods.

My usual routine with labels is this:

- photograph the hone from all sides to mark the position of the labels
- brush off loose dirt
- carefully wash it with washing up liquid (no scrubbing!)
- soak the label(s) in lukewarm running water to take it off
- rinse off the glue from the backside of the label
- dry it on lint-free filtration paper (coffee filters work) pressed between books
- apply several coats of Golden Archival Varnish matte or satin
- thoroughly clean the hone itself
- reapply the label(s) eg. with waterproof acid-free photo glue
- tape-mask the hone leaving a few mm around the label(s)
- apply a final coating of spray varnish

Sometimes I don't like the hassle and just take off and clean the labels and keep them in a stamp album. I do this with very dirty labels too. There are ways to clean old paper, but I'm no expert and hesitate lest I damage them - wet paper is very susceptible to physical stress and cleaning/bleaching agents aren't risk-free either.

In defense of urushi I must say it is none of those things . It is just not a crystal clear coating.

I certainly hope you guys interested in urushi will spend some time researching. It can range between annoying and deadly depending on your sensitivity to urishinol. Doing something silly like spraying it or honing it while uncured... I mean could you imaging inhaling some and having an allergic reaction in your lungs? Some people cannot handle an object weeks after it has cured. Some are non allergic (very few) and a first time exposure will ellicit no reaction the second time most likely will. Keep it off your skin