A number of coating/substrate combinations were evaluated in order to study the deadherence of coatings on metal substrates when exposed to water. The coatings were thermoplastic acrylic, polybutadiene, silicone alkyd and polymethane, chosen to cover a wide range of adhesion qualities and the substrates, copper, aluminum, lead, steel, nickel, and glass to provide a variety of different surface oxides. The water disbondment was determined using a water immersion adhesion test. An internal reflectance FTIR analysis technique was used to characterize the chemical nature of the coating/substrate and coating/air interface in some cases. As expected the tests highlighted the importance of surface preparation for adhesion. Systems exhibiting primary chemical bonds at the coating/substrate interface were found to have a greater resistance to wet adhesion loss than materials not exhibiting such bonding. The results obtained by FTIR might be of interest to conservation scientists studying protective coatings and corrosion. -- AATA