What are the advantages and disadvantages of acid-free paper?

Answer 1

It is correct that acid free paper is archival. That makes it perfect for scrapbooking, picture albums, baseball card collecting, anything that you would mount on paper. The paper resists air and light damage therefore, keeping your mementos in mint condition.

So, the advantages would be that your mementos will stay perfect for a longer period of time and the disadvantage would be that it costs more to produce therefore costing you more to purchase.

Answer 2

Acid Free Paper

Answer 3

Acid-Free paper is paper that has a neutral pH. It addresses the problem of preserving documents for long periods of time.

Other papers that were made from wood-based pulp that has not had its lignin removed goes yellow and deteriorates over time.

During production, acid-free paper may be treated with a mild base (usually calcium or magnesium bicarbonate) to neutralize the natural acids occurring in wood pulp. The bicarbonate is added in excess, to supply the paper with an alkaline reserve to provide protection from further attach by acids remaining in the paper or supplied by the environment (eg. atmospheric sulfur dioxide). The bicarbonate during drying loses carbon dioxide and water and is converted to calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate.

You could say that this release of CO2 is bad for the environment, but I have actually been unable to locate actual numbers of what gets released into the air, and I'm assuming that it's not an environmental issue.

Answer 4

There's really one 1 disadvantage - costs for the consumer and the manufacturers.

Although manufacturing acid-free paper is cheaper, cleaner, and produces a better product (and less waste), most companies aren't jumping on the bandwagon b/c it is costly and time-consuming to shut down manufacturing plants to retool and, unless carefully planned, could result in a loss of business if something goes wrong.

Answer 5

environmentally, it does need acid to be produced which adds to the energy use in the manufacturing process, it doesn't abrade (rub off) on your hands when you handle it, it doesn't return the acid to the soil if you throw the used paper in the trash to be hauled to a landfill, and it is easier to recycle because the acid is just another thing that would have to be bleached out of the paper stock in the recycling process.

Answer 6

acid free paper is archival. It is resistant to yellowing and becoming brittle over time. I use it for watercolor painting and matting. It is best for photos as well.

Answer 7

PH NEUTRAL, WE CARE ABOUT THIS BECAUSE;
WE WANT IT TO LAST!

Does anyone concider this when choosing what food they eat?
Paper - yes, garden soil - yes, if you want it to last - you use ph neatral, so if YOU want to last (your body), eat more alkaline producing foods. Look up alkaline and acid produsing foods.

Answer 8

That's a good question, I was wondering the same thing myself