Odor

Richard C. Borges <dbumca [at] aol__com> writes

>Elizabeth Buschor, Senior Paper Conservator at the Upper Midwest
>Conservation Association, is treating several works of art on paper
>that have acquired a cigar-smoke smell.  She has tried a general
>airing out, in combination with lengthy exposure times to unscented
>kitty litter in a chamber.  The smell has not been completely
>removed.  Has anyone experienced a successful treatment in removing
>cigar-smoke smell?

I have recently had satisfactory results in  reducing the "smoke
smell" from a textile which could only be surface cleaned of soot
deposited during a fire.  The reduction was significant, I felt, and
has encouraged me to pursue further experiments with zeolite in an
enclosed environment.

The fabric (a Bogolan/mudcloth from Mali) was placed on a support
board which was covered by a sheet of MicroChamber zeolite coated
paper (Conservation Resources, Ltd) and loosely wrapped in
polyethylene plastic. The zeolite surface of the paper was
positioned against the support board to avoid transfer of that
material to the textile.

After two weeks' enclosure the odor was dramatically reduced
compared to other untreated textiles from the same collection.  (The
textiles had also been exposed to years of cigarette smoke prior to
the fire).

You may also want to consult a previous posting about use of zeolite
by Ronald Harvey in Conservation DistList Instance: 12:75 Tuesday,
March 23, 1999.


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:61
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 10, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-61-004
                                  ***