Waxed linen plans

Alison Muir <alison.muir [at] nmni__com> writes

>Does anyone have any information/experience/suggestions on the
>conservation of waxed linen plans, particularly the removal of sticky
>tape adhesives/stains and suitable adhesives for repair?

Our experience at Museum Conservation Services Ltd with drawn plans
on linen or drafting cloth is that they have a starch based coating
rather than wax. Sometime a blue dye is also added during
manufacture.  The surface is usually calendared.  The presence of
starch rather than wax makes the use of solvents during conservation
much easier.  Obviously, the use of solvents such as
n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and pyridine would be impractical, as would
amylase.  Water can also cause problems, though humidification and
the localised use of swelling agents are possible.  Stain removal is
difficult unless the stain is on the surface.

Nicholas Burnett ACR
Director, Museum Conservation Services Ltd
9 Quy Court
Colliers Lane
Stow-cum-Quy
Cambridge CB25 9AU


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:21
                Distributed: Thursday, October 21, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-24-21-004
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