Consolidating deteriorated leather

Chris Koustourlis <ckoustourlis<-a t->jenkinslaw< . >org> writes

>Does anyone know of a treatment for old
>leather-bound books whose covers are deteriorating, dry and dirty?

Soren Ibsen in his reply (Conservation DistList Instance: 11:16
Thursday, August 14, 1997) obliquely touched on the issue that a
complete conservation condition assessment should be done for each
object in the collection in question.  What you are seeing in the
covers (powdering, dirt, dryness) are symptoms.  The overall
cause(s) need to be determined to correct any long term chronic
problems with the storage environment, for example.

Ibsen mentioned the pH level of the leather.  This is important to
determine, since deacidification treatment might be warranted.
Currently, there is no overall safe method to deacidify leather book
covers.  The covers would have to be disassembled for complete
treatment.  This brings up another set of curatorial  and management
issues that have to be answered such as how many volumes are
involved? What are the costs involved?  Are the covers essential to
preserve, or would rebinding be more appropriate in terms of overall
preservation and cost effectiveness?

I would agree with Ibsen that the first approach must be
preventative maintenance and cleaning.  The RH in the area should be
continually monitored, if that is not already being done.  If the
bindings are friable and powdering, I wouldn't recommend using a
"rubber pad" (if that means an eraser )for drycleaning, since it
will be too abrasive and remove leather fibers.

Applying any kind of liquid coating to leather book covers by
non-conservators is discouraged.  Microcrystalline wax may be
indicated in some cases.   I strongly suggest that if these volumes
are valuable enough to apply special measures to their preservation,
that a professional conservator be contacted to perform a condition
survey before any treatment action is taken.   Products of such a
survey should be treatment recommendations that are based on actual
conditions, as well as a long-term conservation plan.

I would be happy to supply an index of Leather Conservation News
articles that address this problem if Chris, or anyone else who is
interested, contacts me off-list.  Most of those articles are
available through the back order list.

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:17
                 Distributed: Tuesday, August 19, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-17-002
                                  ***