Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 81
After testing a few other agents the peeling layer of paint on the body of the cupboard has been fixed with a 5% acetone solution of Paraloid B72, without causing any optical change of the paint layer.11 But on the soaked side of the cupboard the consolidant caused very strong optical changes in the water stained areas. We were not able to completely solve Paraloid from the layer, so these areas remained dark. We thought that if we were able to remove the water stains we could create a more even surface during the fixing of the paint. We had tried several methods for removing the water stains: 1. We dripped a 10% distilled water solution of Selecton B2 (chelating agent) onto the blotting paper, which had direct contact with the stain on a very small surface, then dried the stain, which formed on the surface. The area where we dripped the agent became whiter, surrounding surfaces however became darker. 2. We applied a mixture of Bolognese chalk and water on the bordering surfaces of the stain. The surfaces treated with Paraloid earlier didn't show any changes. Although the water stain disappeared from the unfixed surface or its borderlines were pushed back, but when we wiped off the dried chalk from the surface some portion of the paint came off as well. Another drawback of this method is that the process is not controllable, because the chalk covers the treated surface. 3. Applying a 1% water solution of hydrogen peroxide12 on the darkened surface with a tampon, a paper whitening method used in paper conservation, the bordering strip of the water stain was pushed even further, however the paint layer became soaked. 4. We placed Gore-tex vlies and wet blotting paper on one of the stains, covering it with polyethylene foil and placing light weights on it. We checked the surface every 20 minutes and saw that the strip bordering the water stain disappeared or was pushed further within 2 hours and the remaining unfixed paint didn't come off. According to these experiments we came to the conclusion that water stains can be removed by wetting with Gore-tex and their borders can be pushed back. The fact that Gore-tex membrane only allows the penetration of water in a molecular form enables us to control and regulate the amount of water applied and the even wetting of the object. We have decided to wet the full surface of the inner painted side of the door. Before applying the treatment we fixed the loose layer of paint where it hadn't been done already, applying an 8% gelatine solution, which was the method, where the extent of optical changes were the least. We hoped that the strips around these areas were going to disappear just like the water stains. We carried out the wetting in the following so-called Gore-tex sandwich: we placed a board on the bottom, followed by a piece of felt, than came the door with the surface to be treating facing down. On the side we were about to wet came the Gore-tex vlies with the membrane facing the door, then the wet blotting paper, the polyethylene foil and the felt and finally on the top of the sandwich we placed another board as a weight. In order to avoid the warping of 4. Structure of the Gore-tex sandwich during the treatment of the cupboard door WOODEN PLATE FELT FOIL WET BLOTTING PAPER GORE-TEX DOOR 5SS$FOIL FELT WOODEN PLATE 81
