{"id":8504,"date":"2013-06-10T09:27:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T14:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=8504"},"modified":"2013-06-10T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2013-06-10T14:27:25","slug":"41st-annual-meeting-textile-session-may-30-new-and-current-materials-and-approaches-for-localized-cleaning-in-textile-conservation-by-elizabeth-shaeffer-co-authored-by-j","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2013\/06\/10\/41st-annual-meeting-textile-session-may-30-new-and-current-materials-and-approaches-for-localized-cleaning-in-textile-conservation-by-elizabeth-shaeffer-co-authored-by-j\/","title":{"rendered":"41st Annual Meeting \u2013 Textile Session, May 30, \u201cNew and Current Materials and Approaches for Localized Cleaning in Textile Conservation\u201d by Elizabeth Shaeffer (co-authored by Joy Gardiner)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of attending Elizabeth Shaeffer\u2019s session exploring current and developing approaches used in the localized cleaning of textiles.\u00a0 Her fast-paced, well-delivered lecture provided a wealth of information on localized cleaning techniques from the traditional use of cellulosic materials (cotton sheets, blotter papers and cellulose pulps) to gel systems (both viscous and rigid).\u00a0 She then concluded the session with a more in-depth discussion on a sampler treatment followed by comparison charts on the different methods.\u00a0 I will not go into all the detail that she went into, but I will provide a brief overview.\u00a0 We all should look forward to reading her post-prints as they will provide a more in-depth discussion.\u00a0 Being an objects major with a subspecialty in textiles, I was excited to hear her talk, as the reduction of stains or adhesives is found in all conservation specialties including paper, objects and paintings.
\nCellulose Poultices
\nBeginning with the use of cellulose poultices to reduce stains from a textile by capillary action during drying.\u00a0 Shaeffer described a treatment performed by Joy Gardiner at Winterthur, with whom she conducted a lot of her research, where a series of cellulose poultices assisted in the reduction of a tideline on the upholstery fabric of a rather fragile chair.\u00a0 The textile was dampened followed by blotter wicking for the initial removal of discoloration.\u00a0 Blotter wicking was continued until no more discoloration was removed.\u00a0 At this point, dampened cellulose pulp was used for better contact.\u00a0 The difference between the before and after images were dramatic; the treatment was quite successful.
\nViscous Gels
\nUnlike cellulose poultices, gels are used to deliver cleaning solutions (which might include chelators and enzymes) with the added benefit of being able to limit the amount of solution to water-sensitive surfaces and to increase the solution contact time.\u00a0 Viscous gels still maintain a fluid-like property and can flow into the interstices of a fabric, which could make it difficult to remove.\u00a0 She discussed the thick application of a methyl cellulose (MC) poultice on a dye sensitive sampler.\u00a0 MC (50% concentration) can be made very thick and molded by hand into the desired shape.\u00a0 The residue question can be reduced by the addition of a barrier, but this also can reduce the efficacy.\u00a0 Enzymes can also be included in MC poultices and alpha-amylase is currently available in a pre-made system, the Albertina Kompresse.\u00a0 Additionally, lowering the concentration of MC with shorter application times and the application of sodium chloride to the rinse solution can reduce resides.
\nXanthan gum, another viscous gel, was discussed and it\u2019s unique shear force properties, which was interesting.\u00a0 When the gel is agitated on the surface of a textile, soils will be suspended in the solution phase and then trapped in the gel structure when the force is removed.\u00a0 Also, xanthan gum is compatible with non-water miscible solvents such as benzyl alcohol or tolulene.\u00a0 The gel structure has \u201cpockets\u201d in the network allowing oil in water emulsion. Reducing bleaches cannot be used as it will break gel.\u00a0 Be sure a buy \u201chighly purified\u201d xanthan gum.\u00a0 Consider adding a biocide, as it can grow mold.
\nLaponite RD was also covered briefly.\u00a0 The benefit is that it is compatible with bleaches since it is inorganic.\u00a0 Studies do show that residues left may cause discoloration, so the use of a barrier like gampi paper should be considered.
\nRigid Gels
\nThe first rigid gel discussed in the session was agarose, which is a product already familiar in conservation.\u00a0 When dissolved in heated water and cooled, agarose forms a rigid three-dimensional polymer network with pores.\u00a0 These pores can hold solutions and can be combined with chelators, enzymes and even water miscible solvents.\u00a0 Depending on the concentration of agarose used, the pore size will differ thus affecting amount of solution released, and therefore can be tailored for each treatment.\u00a0\u00a0 Shaeffer described her experience with a chelating test kit developed by Richard Wobers with varying pHs.\u00a0 She found that on a test linen, the higher pH was more effective no matter what the chelator.\u00a0 When Shaeffer was an intern at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she used this information along with the system that Laura Mina and Kate Sahmel developed for removing dye bleed, to remove discoloration of the ground fabric of a sampler.\u00a0 (Laura Mina and Kate Sahmel presented their treatment at AIC last year<\/a>.)\u00a0 Shaeffer\u2019s treatment was successful but very labor intensive since each small area was outlined with cyclododecane followed by the \u201ccut to shape\u201d agarose (with EDTA) gel..\u00a0 Agarose is easy to manipulate and reusable, something to consider.\u00a0 Finally, gellan gum was quickly mentioned as a recently introduced rigid gel finding its way into the consideration of conservators.
\nIn Conclusion
\nThe comparison charts, when the post prints are released, will be good to review again, since so many types of techniques, solutions and recipes were only briefly discussed.\u00a0 In the post-prints, she will be discussing at greater length her research and treatments (including \u201crecipes\u201d).\u00a0 Elizabeth\u2019s warm delivery tone allowed me to be swept away into an in-depth discussion of gels and poultices used in textile treatments.\u00a0 In this blog, I have seriously only briefly touched on the discussion.\u00a0 It was a topic that embraces not just the textile specialty group, but other conservation specialties.\u00a0 She hopes that some of the material discussed will spark our interest; encouraging us to share our findings as we proceed.\u00a0 I, for one, will be now be considering these materials into my \u201ctoolbox\u201d of techniques!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of attending Elizabeth Shaeffer\u2019s session exploring current and developing approaches used in the localized cleaning of textiles.\u00a0 Her fast-paced, well-delivered lecture provided a wealth of information on localized cleaning techniques from the traditional use of cellulosic materials (cotton sheets, blotter papers and cellulose pulps) to gel systems (both viscous and rigid).\u00a0 … Continue reading “41st Annual Meeting \u2013 Textile Session, May 30, \u201cNew and Current Materials and Approaches for Localized Cleaning in Textile Conservation\u201d by Elizabeth Shaeffer (co-authored by Joy Gardiner)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":7942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16,17],"tags":[72,998],"class_list":["post-8504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-specialty-sessions","category-textiles","tag-aics-41st-annual-meeting","tag-textile-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}