Questionnaire on Aquazol

    **** Moderator's comments: Please respond directly to the
    author.

    There was a similar questionnaire in 2003, by Julie Arslanoglu,
    then a Mellon Fellow at the Balboa Art Conservation Center.
    (Conservation DistList Instance: 17:3 Friday, June 20, 2003)

    <URL:http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/2003/0837.html>

I am currently studying conservation of paintings at the National
School of Visual Arts of La Cambre (Brussels, Belgium).  For the
purposes of my dissertation (part of my assessment for my fifth and
last year of study), I am currently doing some research about
Aquazol.  To be precise, I am focusing on the various applications
of this product.

I would like to organise an informal survey about the use of Aquazol
and contact as many practitioners of painting
conservation-restoration who are used to using this product as
possible.

I therefore take the liberty to ask you to circulate the
questionnaire below among the people whom you suspect might be able
to reply to all or part of it.

I would be glad to have the opportunity of reading their opinion on
Aquazol.

Emilie Lobet
Boulevard de l'Est, 56/8
7800 Ath
Belgique

Questionnaire on the Use of Aquazol as an Adhesive in Paintings
Conservation Practice:

The purpose of the questionnaire below is to complete an informal
survey about the use of Aquazol by practitioners of painting
conservation-restoration. Its "long" version reproduces the
questions asked by Julie Arslanoglu in her survey completed in 2003
in the United States.

For those of you who lack time but are nevertheless willing to
participate to this survey, there is also the possibility of only
replying to a shorter version of the questionnaire. And if you do
not have enough time to complete the "long" nor the "short"
questionnaire, you can still provide me with only a short
description of your personal experience with Aquazol.

Precise percentages of your most frequent formulations (e.g. 20%
Aquazol 200 in 80% water; 9 part of isopropanol for 1 part of
Aquazol; etc.) and concrete examples of applications (e.g.
flattening and consolidation of extremely thick, cupped oil paint
with a hot spatula) would be the most helpful way to help me to
achieve this survey.

Of course, I will be delighted to share the results of my research
with you and send you an electronic version of my conclusion, should
you be interested.

In any case can I kindly ask you to provide me with your details so
that I will be able to contact you and discuss your responses?

        Name:
        Specialty:
        E-mail address:

Short Questionnaire:

How long have you known Aquazol, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)?

Specific application: consolidation of paint layer or ground layer
with Aquazol

    1.  Do you use Aquazol for consolidation: rarely, often, most of
        the time? Why?

    2.  Would you advise the use of Aquazol in order to solve a
        specific problem (like consolidation of matte paint)?

    3.  On which kind of paint do you use Aquazol as consolidation
        adhesive?

    4.  What percentage of Aquazol in water do you most commonly
        use? In solvents?

    5.  Could you describe some cases for which you chose to use
        Aquazol as a consolidation adhesive?

Long questionnaire:

The Different Molecular Weights

    1.  Of the three molecular weights available, which do you find
        the most useful? Why?

    2.  Do you find a noticeable difference in the bond strength of
        the three different molecular weights? If so, please rank
        them (weakest to strongest).

    3.  Can you give 2 examples of the conditions that would dictate
        the use of each of the molecular weights?

    4.  Have you ever used blends of the different molecular weights
        of Aquazol? If so, what was the formulation and what guided
        your decision to create the blend?

Solubility

    5.  Do you use Aquazol more often in water or in an organic
        solvent?

    6.  If the paint is stable in organic solvents but not water,
        please give reasons for why you might choose Aquazol as an
        adhesive rather than BEVA or another solvent soluble
        adhesive.

    7.  When using Aquazol in water, could you give some reasons why
        you would choose Aquazol over other aqueous adhesives such
        as gelatine, sturgeon's glue and PVA?

    8.  When you take advantage of the thermoplastic properties of
        Aquazol, do you notice a difference in its solubility after
        the adhesive has been warmed with a hot spatula?

Working Formulations

    9.  What percentage of Aquazol in water do you most commonly
        use? In solvents? (Please give examples of percentages and
        usage, for example 20% Aquazol 200 in water for
        consolidation of tented oil paint.)

    10. Have you experimented with higher and lower percentages of
        Aquazol in water? In organic solvents?

    11. Could you give 3 examples of when you might use high or low
        percentages of Aquazol solution?

    12. Have you ever experienced a treatment where Aquazol
        consolidation has failed? If so, please describe the
        conditions of failure.

    13. Have you observed any mould growth or bad odour development
        in your stored solutions? If you have, please describe. If
        you have not, what is the longest that you have stored a
        solution without a problem and what was the formulation?

Working Properties

    14. Have your tried different application methods for Aquazol
        (for example by brush, through tissue, with an ultrasonic
        mister, etc.)? If you have used more than one method, could
        you list each one, give an example of the Aquazol
        formulation that you used and describe the consolidation
        problem that it was used for.

    15. What would you say is Aquazol's greatest shortcoming in
        terms of working properties (for example, difficulty in
        clearing, poor wetting, short shelf life in solution, etc.)?

    16. Have you ever applied Aquazol in one solvent (for example,
        water) and cleared with another solvent (for example,
        acetone)? If so, why did you choose to do so and were the
        results satisfactory?

Physical Properties

    17. Do you find that Aquazol in solvents behaves differently
        than in water (for example, is it easier to clear, does it
        penetrate better, is the adhesion better)?

    18. How does Aquazol compare to other thermoplastic adhesives,
        for example sturgeon's glue and BEVA?

    19. Have you ever experienced any problems with high relatively
        humidity causing Aquazol adhesion failure?

    20. Have you ever experienced any difficulties with storing
        Aquazol (for example cold flow, discoloration or gelling due
        to high relative humidity)?

Thank you for participating in this questionnaire.

Please keep a copy of your responses for yourself and send a copy to
me at

    Emilie Lobet
    Boulevard de l'Est, 56/8
    7800 Ath - Belgique
    emilie.lobet<-at->alumni<.>ulg<.>ac<.>be


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:49
                   Distributed: Saturday, May 5, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-49-022
                                  ***