Dusting
cleaning of documents, archives and books
Dusting is the preliminary cleaning operation for all restoration interventions by wet way, in fact it is the most consistent part of the so-called dry interventions.
The process can be carried out in different ways, depending on the quantity and quality of foreign material deposited on the surface of the documents undergoing restoration.
The cleaning operations are carried out exclusively by the Prodoc team made up of cultural heritage qualified restorers.
Following the guidelines of the standard technical specifications, we identify the most suitable tools for carrying out the various operations: from the use of soft bristle brushes, to rubbers, to scalpels for the removal of concretions.
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The dusting process
On site:
Dusting operations can be carried out directly inside the storage rooms, with portable vacuum cleaners equipped with HEPA filters, limiting the work areas.
In our laboratory:
If necessary, we carry out the dusting in our laboratory by working paper by paper and using soft bristle brushes and rubbers under a suction hood equipped with HEPA filters.
After a drying operation:
It is possible that, following a drying process carried out through the use of the freeze-drying system, it is necessary to proceed with a dusting activity to eliminate debris or accumulations of foreign material resulting from a flood.
To remedy previous damages:
We often work on material contaminated by previous fungal attacks with aspirators with HEPA filters, brushes and rubbers under extractor hood with HEPA filters.
The importance of dusting
Dry processes are to be considered simultaneously maintenance and restoration of the cultural property.
Dusting is a direct operation on the cultural asset, especially if it affects all the papers, even in situations of fungal attacks, with rather substantial interventions.
The operations to eliminate dust accumulations, which it is hoped will be carried out on a regular basis within the deposits at least annually, are also the best way to check the condition of the archival materials.
As we know the dust is composed of different materials of inorganic origin but there is also a large amount of organic materials such as: spores, epithelial cells and mites. Dust is an ideal substrate for the proliferation of fungal attacks which, as we know, are always lurking in case the environmental conditions become favorable.