Re: starch

Dear Marie - Anna

Starch adhesive paste is often present in shrunk, cracked, rigid and brittle form due to their aged condition. It is often necessary to remove these adhesive materials from Historical textiles because they may lead to deterioration of the textiles as they age.

Enzymes which digest starch and protein have become widely accepted as some of the most useful reagents available to conservator’s .Application of enzymes can be a method that is at once the most efficacious and the least disruptive to the fibers. Extremely thick accretions which would require inadvisably long or repeated bathing times in traditional washing solutions are also more efficiently removed by enzymes, because they catalyze a degradation reaction of the components of paste.

you can use α – amylase from Aspergillus oryzae, code A6211 (Sigma), in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer with 6.7 mM sodium chloride, Ph 6.9. in the textile conservation amylases are used to remove old starch-based. The advantage of these enzymes is that they are specific for starch. The α- amylase enzyme degrade starch to shorter polymeric fragments, known as dextrin and maltose.

Harby Ezzeldeen Hassan Ahmed.
B.A, M.A Historical Textiles Conservation.
Assistant Lecturer - Conservation Department-
Faculty of Archeology - Cairo University - Egypt.
Ph.D Candidate Biotechnology Lab - School of Chemical Engineering -
National Technical University of Athens - Greece.
9 Iroon Polytechniou - 15780 - Zografou - Athens - GREECE.

E-mail : harbyezzeldeen@xxxxxxxxx.

Cell phone: +306945572550

From: Marie-Anne Perquy <maperquy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:55:56 PM
Subject: starch

Has anyone any experience with removing starch from linnen or cotton bonnets or babydresses or any information on conservation problems due to starch in for example collars...
I wonder if I can use starch again afther washing some linnen and lace bonnets to help shaping them for displaying.
Marie-Anne Perquy
student at the Academie Anderlecht - textielrestauratie