Comparison of lightweight Japanese tissues for overall stabilization of documents damaged by iron gall ink corrosion and an alternative to silk screen frames

Paper documents with severe iron gall ink corrosion are difficult to handle. While a defined treatment for the chemical stabilisation exists already, methods to improve the mechanical stabilisation have yet to be developed. The degradation of the selected objects was so advanced that the documents needed special attention concerning handling and mechanical re-enforcement. After a calciumphytate-calciumhydrogen treatment, documents were lined with light weight Japanese paper and gelatine. A workflow for treating severely degraded iron gall ink documents was developed. Since the removal of objects from the silk screen frames after the wet treatment proved to be too difficult, a PE-board was introduced as an alternative washing support. Most synthetic fleeces such as Hollytex or Paraprint adhere to its granulated surface by mechanical means. This makes PE-board a practical support during any wet treatment of paper-based objects.