Let me qualify what I mean by an antique paper.
I mean a paper produced before the invention of the Fourdrinier paper making machine in 1803.
Prior to this paper was made by hand from cotton and linen rag, so the paper we are talking about handling would be a hand made paper.
It must be said, that whatever document is to be washed, the media used must not be fugitive in water, in other words do not try this with a hand coloured print.
Let us say we have a job to do, we have a print from 1745 which is suffering from bad damp staining, damp stains are those unsightly stains which resemble a tide mark of light/dark brown.
We are going to wash the document to remove the damp staining.
We would need a shallow tray made of plastic or stainless steel and enough de-ionised water to fill the tray to 1/2 inch deep, two or three times.
We will need a document support fabric, which is a chemically inert 1mm mesh, so that the document when wet will be supported by being sandwiched by the mesh.
We will need a hand held spray/mister and IMS (Industrial Methylated Spirit) or a 90 proof alcohol.
Place the print onto the support fabric.
Spray with a mix of 50/50 de-ionised water and IMS, the alcohol soaks deeply into the paper, taking the water with it, this saturates the print, making it ready to place in the washing tray.
Lower the sandwiched print into the water and leave it, it would not harm to heat the water a little, and agitate the print occasionally.
Check back to the print now and again, you will notice the water has become discoloured; this is caused by the soluble acids in the print migrating into the de-ionised water.
Repeat with fresh water.
In general a badly stained document will take 2 or even 3 treatments.
When you are happy the staining has been removed, take the print out supported by the fabric and place it on a sheet of blotting paper, add a sheet on top and weight down with a board, anything that will keep the paper flat.
You may have to repeat this, the object is to get the print quite dry and keep it flat.
The paper of this print when first made would have been sized, put simply this involved dipping the sheet in a tub of liquid size probably made from gelatin.
We washed out the size when we washed the print, and this size has to be replaced, the size is essential, it gives strength and improves the handling qualities of the paper.
Here is a recipe for making a gelatin size; 1 3/4 oz.
(50g) gelatin 2 quart (1.
9 litres) cold water Dissolve in cold water, let sit at least 10 min.
Heat to just under a boil, keep warm to use.
Take the dry print on a sheet of support fabric and place both on a sheet of clean blotting paper.
There are purpose made brushes from Japan that use no metal in their construction, if you do not have one of these purchase a new 3 inch wide paint brush.
Load the brush with size and coat one side and then the other.
Leave the print to dry, when it is so, very lightly mist the print with the water/alcohol mix, just enough to relax the paper, place between two sheets of blotting paper, add a weight as before and allow to dry.
I mean a paper produced before the invention of the Fourdrinier paper making machine in 1803.
Prior to this paper was made by hand from cotton and linen rag, so the paper we are talking about handling would be a hand made paper.
It must be said, that whatever document is to be washed, the media used must not be fugitive in water, in other words do not try this with a hand coloured print.
Let us say we have a job to do, we have a print from 1745 which is suffering from bad damp staining, damp stains are those unsightly stains which resemble a tide mark of light/dark brown.
We are going to wash the document to remove the damp staining.
We would need a shallow tray made of plastic or stainless steel and enough de-ionised water to fill the tray to 1/2 inch deep, two or three times.
We will need a document support fabric, which is a chemically inert 1mm mesh, so that the document when wet will be supported by being sandwiched by the mesh.
We will need a hand held spray/mister and IMS (Industrial Methylated Spirit) or a 90 proof alcohol.
Place the print onto the support fabric.
Spray with a mix of 50/50 de-ionised water and IMS, the alcohol soaks deeply into the paper, taking the water with it, this saturates the print, making it ready to place in the washing tray.
Lower the sandwiched print into the water and leave it, it would not harm to heat the water a little, and agitate the print occasionally.
Check back to the print now and again, you will notice the water has become discoloured; this is caused by the soluble acids in the print migrating into the de-ionised water.
Repeat with fresh water.
In general a badly stained document will take 2 or even 3 treatments.
When you are happy the staining has been removed, take the print out supported by the fabric and place it on a sheet of blotting paper, add a sheet on top and weight down with a board, anything that will keep the paper flat.
You may have to repeat this, the object is to get the print quite dry and keep it flat.
The paper of this print when first made would have been sized, put simply this involved dipping the sheet in a tub of liquid size probably made from gelatin.
We washed out the size when we washed the print, and this size has to be replaced, the size is essential, it gives strength and improves the handling qualities of the paper.
Here is a recipe for making a gelatin size; 1 3/4 oz.
(50g) gelatin 2 quart (1.
9 litres) cold water Dissolve in cold water, let sit at least 10 min.
Heat to just under a boil, keep warm to use.
Take the dry print on a sheet of support fabric and place both on a sheet of clean blotting paper.
There are purpose made brushes from Japan that use no metal in their construction, if you do not have one of these purchase a new 3 inch wide paint brush.
Load the brush with size and coat one side and then the other.
Leave the print to dry, when it is so, very lightly mist the print with the water/alcohol mix, just enough to relax the paper, place between two sheets of blotting paper, add a weight as before and allow to dry.