Conservation of a Broadside - Part One: Bathing and Removing Adhesive

In this video National Postal Museum Conservator Helen Young treats a paper artifact that is to be put on exhibit. The paper artifact (a broadside) had originally been pasted into an album, and it was removed from the album page by the conservator. The broadside had creases and wrinkles, and paste remained on the back. This video shows conservation procedures that are typical for washing a paper artifact.
"Conservation of a Broadside - Part Two": http://youtu.be/O0cokmKzwtk
"Encapsulating a Broadside": http://youtu.be/OfzQewjyO6o

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  Education

[Hevvic]

how did you test the paper and ink if you only had the one piece?

[SmithsonianNPM]

I tested the ink and paper separately by applying (under magnification) a small drop of buffered water/ethanol mixture to an area of the ink and to an area of the pink paper, then immediately blotted the moisture and looked for any change. I repeated these tests with increasingly larger drops, allowing the mixture to remain on the paper or ink for increasingly longer amounts of time before blotting, until I felt confident that my approach would not cause an undesirable change. -Helen Young

[feabicyoplung]

Thanks for a great video, this is like magic. Such a clean working environment. I can't wait to see part 2!

[rafemorffi]

Wow! I had no idea paper conservation could be this exciting. Paper, water, ethanol, ions...cool! This is one of the more riveting videos I've seen here. Way to go conservator lady!