Humectant

Description

A hygroscopic additive that aids in the retention of moisture. Humectants are added to keep a material from becoming dry, hard, or stiff. Glycerol is an example of an humectant. Humectants are used in leathers to restore suppleness. Commercially they are used in bakery products, tobacco, and flexible glues.

Resources and Citations

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• AMOL reCollections Glossary -http://amol.org.au/recollections/7/h/htm