Saliva

Rosemary Yallop <rosemary [at] yallop__demon__co__uk> writes

Sanchita Balachandran <sb381<-at->nyu<.>edu> writes

>In order to synthesize saliva for cleaning purposes, one first has
>to have a clear view of which of the ingredients of natural saliva
>is operative in the cleaning process for a given material.

I was very interested to read your message about the use of saliva
in conservation.  I am currently researching for my own thesis and
am considering looking into potentially harmful saliva residues and
the effect of rinsing.  My particular interest is gilded surfaces
(though I am also thinking about stone).  From my experience,
rinsing is not always general practice when cleaning with saliva,
though it does seem to be with enzymes and chelating agents.  Also,
it may prove problematic on vulnerable gilded surfaces (if using
water or alcohol, for example).

The other area I am interested in researching is whether saliva's
cleaning efficacy can be increased, by alteration of diet for
example, or by buffering solutions to modify pH.  But I am unsure
whether this would be possible, given time restraints.

    **** Moderator's comments: Ms Yallop is not currently a DistList
    participant but has published on the subject.  See

        Yallop, Rosemary
        Les techniques de nettoyage du parchemin: une revue
        bibliographique.

        (A survey of cleaning methods for vellum and parchment)
        Support trace no. 4 (2004), pp. 36-43 Association pour la
        recherche scientifique sur les arts graphiques, Paris,
        France [French w. English summaries]
        (source AATA)

Eliza Doherty


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:16
                  Distributed: Sunday, October 6, 2013
                       Message Id: cdl-27-16-025
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