Course Details

Day 1

Washing paper on vacuum. Humidification prior to placing an object on the vacuum table, the use of Bondinas to support a delicate object and the pros and cons of using blotter or cotton sheet to receive the solvent and solute will be discussed. Washing the whole object and washing objects bigger than the vacuum area plus localised washing will be examined.

The day will also include lining an object with a thin tissue and thin starch paste before placing it on the vacuum table and washing through the lining. The use of additives, IMS and Synperonic A7, will be evaluated. Washing of paper bearing watercolours or other images sensitive to water will be explored by the use of small hand sprayers and the masking of discrete areas. Bleaching; the use of three bleaches on vacuum will be explored; namely, sodium di-thionite, hydrogen peroxide and calcium hypochlorite. Residues of peroxide and chlorine after rinsing will be measured. There will be the opportunity to bleach the whole object and in a controlled manner for discrete areas.

Day 2

Those who wish to will be able to continue to explore bleaching. Repairs and lining on vacuum will be explained and practised. A brief demonstration of pulp infilling will be given and attendants will have the chance to experiment. Removal of the adhesives of pressure sensitive tapes will be examined.

There will be four different types of vacuum machine for attendants to use. It would be useful if each attendant brought small tools such as watercolour brushes from double O upwards of man-made fibres plus scalpel, bone folder etc. If an attendant has an example of a problem that they face please bring it along so that we may explore solutions.

To download a PDF copy of this, please click here.

Location Details

The Camberwell College website has a fantastic "find us" page, which I will not attempt to improve upton so please click here for travel directions and maps by all manner of means.

Please note that travel may be a little heavier than usual due to the Olympics, so leave plenty of time.

For details on accessability, please click here to download a PDF document from the Camberwell website.