Removing lining material

I have been given a 19th century portrait, oil on canvas to restore.
Sadly a previous restoration attempt has been made and gone wrong.
In an attempt to re-line the painting, someone has used a heavy
'heat set cloth', which has "heat set solvent acrylic" and according
to the manufacturers technical staff, it is not reversible. Normal
solvents--white spirit, turps, ethanol, acetone, diacetone--make no
impression. Also applying heat causes more harm to the painting and
does not soften the acrylic solvent. Has anyone had experience with
this cloth?

Malcolm Leach,
Art restorer,
J. Manley Gallery, Eton, UK.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:11
                 Distributed: Thursday, August 12, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-18-11-028
                                  ***