A Novel Approach to Cleaning II: Extending the Modular Cleaning Program to Solvent Gels and Free Solvents, Part 1

Abstract

The Modular Cleaning Program (MCP) was originally conceived to assist the conservator in the formulation and selection of aqueous cleaning systems. Upon using the system, it became apparent that many of the advantages of the approach could also be applied to both solvent gels and free solvents. The two overarching principles of the MCP are the use of small amounts of stock solutions that can be mixed to make a large number of test cleaning solutions and the use of physical constants as a basis for all calculations. The conservator decides on a cleaning strategy and uses the program to work though variables to determine the optimal cleaning system. The computer takes care of the bookkeeping issues associated with formulating complex mixtures. The software provides a context showing which parameters may be changed in a cleaning, and the conservator chooses the direction of the testing. Using small volumes of test solutions offers advantages in cost, ecological impact, and heath and safety by minimizing exposure and waste. The speed and ease with which test solutions can be formulated allows many more cleaning options to be tested and evaluated than was previously practical when each test solution had to be made from scratch. This paper will focus on the design of the solvent and solvent gel capabilities of the program, which will enable a conservator to approach a cleaning using a mixture of free solvents or a set of stock solvent gels that can be mixed together. The MCP incorporates a new theory for formulating solvent gels. The theory, based on empirical observation, postulates physical-chemical structures for Carbopol-based gels. These structures have been used to calculate the gel formulations. A group of solvent gels has been integrated into the new graphical display of solvent parameters, allowing the conservator to navigate visually through the selection of gel combinations. These features are not fully integrated into the current version of the MCP, but are included in the next version which is being debugged as you read this. The clearance of Carbopol-based gels will also be addressed within the database. Recommendations for clearance mixtures will be based on the solubility range of the Carbopol/amine present in the gel or gel mixtures and are calculated in Hansen Solubility Space. As yet, this feature is not incorporated into the database, but research is ongoing.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 2 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.