Didecyldimethyl ammonium chloride

Karin von Lerber <karin.vonlerber [at] prevart__ch> writes

>I therefore suggested drying the object between two layers of
>blotting paper, the lower one being sprayed with 70% Ethanol, which
>would seep through the textile. 70% Ethanol is not *really* a
>biocide, as it is not 100% effective, however the amount of living
>spores can again be reduced quite drastically. (this I conclude from
>Mary-Lou Florian: Fungal Facts, London 2002.) This suggestion of
>Ethanol then lead to the mold specialist's proposal of quaternary
>ammonium salt treatment, as in his view, Ethanol is not a biocide.

Although I am not a textile expert, my knowledge toward chemistry
drag my attention on your intention to use ethanol on textile. It
seems to me that you should be aware of the ability of ethanol to
open the textile fibber up to a point were access to oxygen could be
a spontaneous reaction.

In other words, your textile after receiving such a treatment may be
susceptible to spontaneously catch fire. I will strongly recommend
further investigation on this specific topic.

David Cottier-Angeli
5C Route des Jeunes
CH-1227 Geneva
+41 22 300 19 55


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:12
                 Distributed: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-12-005
                                  ***