Re: cigarette smoke smell, fans, tents, Seaconch Shells (by the seashore)

[Jerry Shiner <tracking@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark

I would think the odours are not only from micro particles, but also from volatile compounds.

When my family used to treat fur garments for smoke damage, we cleaned them first, then used a combination of warmth, moving air, and ozone to remove the residual odour.

The three aspects of this treatment worked very effectively together: a small amount of heat increased the rate of "evaporation" of the volatiles, moving air lessened the concentration of the volatiles near the garment, and brought the ozone into contact with the garment and the vapourized smells.

Boxes of baking soda, a bed of zeolite or activated carbon, microchamber paper,(and probably some cotton muslin, pulverized and baked South American Seaconch Shells, or almost any porous material) would all serve to "catch" some of the odors in the air in the tent treatments mentioned.

My guess is that the air motion, and the possible ozone output (as you suggest) would be the most useful aspects of including an electrostatic air purifier in a tent with the object. However, it would likely be just as effective to exhaust the air out of the tent.

In my opinion, the trick is to gently encourage the odours to leave the garment. Trapping, exhausting, or oxidizing them is then relatively easy.

js
Jerry Shiner
Keepsafe Systems
www.keepsafe.ca


>
> From: Mark MacKenzie <mmackenzie@xxxxxx>
> Date: 2004/12/06 Mon PM 04:31:14 EST
> To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: cigarette smoke smell
>
> on 12/6/04 3:15 PM, Amann conservation at studio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> wrote:
>
> I have de-odorized textiles by making a tent around it with polyethlene
> plastic sheetingand placing open boxes of baking soda around it.  Also my
> painting conservation buddies suggest the use of a electrostatic air cleaner
> in a enclosed space with the articles you want to deodorize.  Painting
> conservators use this method for smoke damaged art.
>
> Carol Kropnick
> Amann Conservation
>
>
> Very interesting. Both techniques would seem to deal with the minute
> particulate matter.  However, I wonder if the production of ozone by the
> electrostatic air cleaners might be thought a hazard for some materials.
> Some paintings due to the types of media used are much more resistant to
> such damage than are many textiles.  I am not throwing up a concern, rather,
> I am interested in knowing more.
>
> Mark MacKenzie
> --
> Mark MacKenzie,
> Conservator, Saskatchewan Western Development Museum
> www.wdm.ca
> mmackenzie@xxxxxx
>
>
>
>