Questionnaire on cleaning sterling silver

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I am conducting a study into the etching effect of acidified
thiourea and saponin, when cleaning of sterling silver (.925 assay).
The following information would be of great assistance to me in the
research that I am conducting and I would be very grateful if you
could answer the questions as fully as possible, emailing me your
answers if possible

Thank you in anticipation of your assistance in this matter.
    1.  In the cleaning conservation of silver objects or plated
        objects, does your department use either of the following?

           a.  Acidified thiourea (yes/no)

           b.  Saponin based solutions (yes/no)

    2.  If you have answered YES to either or both of the methods
        above, please can you describe your rationale behind the use
        of the treatment/s you have employed?

    3.  If you use proprietary acidified thiourea product, which
        product do you use?  If you don't use a proprietary product,
        what recipes and concentrations do you use?

    4.  After treating with acidified thiourea, what methods of
        rinsing do you employ?

    5.  With regard to saponin, have you tried both naturally
        derived saponin (synthesised from boiling soap-nut or any
        other saponaria plant) as well as refined saponin?  If you
        use refined saponin, please describe your preparation method
        (e.g. concentration, temperature, solvent and surfactant
        etc.)

    6.  If you have tried both methods of saponin synthesis
        (outlined above in question 5), which method was most
        effective in achieving the aims of your conservation
        process?

        What led you to that conclusion?

    7.  Finally, have you encountered any pit-falls in using either
        acidified thiourea or the two saponin treatments?  If yes,
        please elaborate.

William Hawkes
Masters student at West Dean College.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:8
                 Distributed: Wednesday, July 15, 2015
                        Message Id: cdl-29-8-015
                                  ***