Thread: Plastic Degradation (Cel Rot)

I know people have asked a lot about celluloid rot and how to stop plastic scales from degrading. Unfortunately even with a ton of searching I still haven't found an answer to stop the breakdown of old plastic scales (beyond the answer of; "there is no way to stop it").

However, I did find some helpful information to give a better idea of the cause along with some tips to prolong the life of plastics that have started to degrade...

Degradation of Polymers
Celluloid (Barry L. Ornitz)

hadn't seen any of these links on here yet but thought some of you would be interested.

Yea it pretty much says what we have said here. Once the degradation starts it emits acid fumes which spreads like cancer in many respects. The only possible way to try and control it would be to attempt to chemically neutralize the process or have a media that either absorbs the acid or have something like they use to stop corrosion by base chemicals by having a sacrificial anode. I don't think anyone has experimented here with such materials. We usually say conservative approaches like low temperature and darkness will help prevent the process but it's still not foolproof. They really haven't found a solution in the movie industry where many old movies have gone to dust.