Varnish on gilded teak settee

Sarah Chui <sarah_chui [at] nhb__gov__sg> writes

>I have an Gilded Teak Settee which is experiencing blistering of
>varnish on the seat located on its proper right. I proposed a
>treatment using Lascaux 4176 and heat tacking method to re-adhere
>the lifting varnish coating on mentioned area of settee and
>similarly to reduce the level of bulging of varnish on mentioned
>area respectively.  This reduces the bulging and re-adhere the
>lifting of varnish, however the blistering marks are still visible
>on the settee. Can I ask for suggestion in treating this?

Have you tried a lower viscosity, solvent based consolidant, or
slightly more heat and pressure with the heat spatula?  In similar
situations, I've achieved good visual and structural results with
B-72 allowed to dry overnight. A higher temperature and more
pressure with the spatula applied over a relatively thick piece of
Mylar can definitely help smooth the outline of the blister if the
coating you are consolidating allows it.

Keith Bakker


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:38
                 Distributed: Monday, February 20, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-38-009
                                  ***