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Cleaning - A balancing act
(2006)
This text originally appeared as chapter 5, 'Reinigung - Eine Gratwanderung' (pp. 101-28) in A. Wolff (ed.), Restaurierung und Konservierung historischer Glasmalereien, Mainz, 2000.
Within the context of this research programme, scientists and conservators collaborated to assess various cleaning methods for historical stained glass. For cleaning glass surfaces there are the mechanical methods already being applied in most workshops, as well as the new chemical cleaning possibilities. Laboratory experiments were conducted initially on model glass in order to test the effectiveness and damage potential of these various methods; the model glass was examined both before and after cleaning by means of light microscopy and infra-red spectroscopy. In addition to this, cleaning tests were carried out on samples of original glass; electron-ray micro-analysis was also used to evaluate the results of these tests. The model-glass samples were corroded in advance by accelerated weathering in an attempt to simulate the damage seen on medieval glass. Enough model glass was prepared to allow any number of series of experiments to be carried out, in order to compare the effectiveness and suitability of the various chemical and mechanical methods and techniques.
For the mechanical cleaning tests, a wide range of selected tools was tested by different conservators on pre-corroded model glass. This showed clearly that the success (or lack of it) of a cleaning episode was determined not just the choice of tool, but by the skill with which conservator wielded it. This observation was later confirmed by research on samples of original glass. Insensitive handling of tools or unsuitable tools could damage or completely destroy the gel layer. The gel layer should not be damaged, as this leads to increased levels of corrosion subsequently, though the encrustations should be reduced, as their hygroscopic qualities accelerate the corrosion processes.
At the next stage, chemical cleaning methods were tested, and the results of cleaning with organic solvents (toluene, ethanol, acetone, etc.) and water-based solutions (oxalic acids, EDTA, ammoniac, etc.) compared with one another and evaluated. It became clear that strongly acidic and alkaline solutions, depending on the condition of the surface, could cause damage or have uncontrollable consequences.
In the specific case of the glass from Erfurt Cathedral, for whose firmly fixed, very hard, opaque encrustations mechanical methods proved to be either ineffective or damaging to the glass, new chemical cleaning possibilities had to be found. Following comprehensive preliminary tests on model glass, various types of ion-exchanger and ammonium-carbonate solution were chosen. Both methods were successful in improving the transparency of some (but not all) of the samples.
The experiments with the original material from Erfurt Cathedral clearly showed that successful cleaning was dependent on the particular composition of the encrustation. Really gentle cleaning can be achieved by chemical means, though only when the chemical agents are tailored to individual damage situations; this can only be achieved when scientific analysis is undertaken in tandem with the cleaning processes.
The assessment of these mechanical and chemical cleaning methods was oriented towards treating corrosion on sensitive medieval glass. Nineteenth-century glass is generally less sensitive, though cleaning of this material must also be careful and very gentle. Scientific analysis alone is not enough to determine the choice of cleaning method, but can act as an aid to the conservator in selecting the right cleaning agent and method.
With the implementation of glass casting in France in the second half of the 17th century, larger mirrors could be produced. So-called tin-mercury mirrors were made by coating glass with tin amalgam. Today, many historical mirrors are partly damaged, the image quality is compromised, and the material integrity of the mirror is threatened. The transformation from tin into an oxide starts at the surface of the amalgam and proceeds down to the glass surface. The mercury dissolves as a liquid or gaseous phase. The amalgam layer is destroyed, so that conservation is necessary. Conservators must follow strict safety precautions while handling amalgam mirrors because of possible mercury emissions and corrosion of the amalgam, during which elemental mercury accumulates near the mirror frame in droplets and is emitted into the air.
In a research project, the quantity of the mercury emissions from historical mirrors was examined and a technique to decrease these emissions was developed.
To improve the adhesives used for restoring stained glass windows, various adhesives were tested and modified. Stained glass windows often show gaps that are too wide to be glued with conventional adhesives, and complementing the gap with spare glass is very time-consuming.
To solve this problem, a filler with improved adhesive strength was developed to bridge wider gaps and cracks. The new filler combines glass adhesives with specially treated glass powder.
Three different glass adhesives were selected and mixed with the specially treated glass powder. The adhesive – glass powder mixture developed was then subjected to accelerated aging and analysed with Fourier transform infrared analysis, scanning electron microscopy, colourimetry, and bending and tensile tests. The results were excellent and the mixture was subsequently used to restore glass windows from four 19th-century churches and chapels. The restoration process was described in conjunction with the advantages of using this approach.
This new adhesive – glass powder mixture provides an adhesive process that can be adapted to the special needs of any object being restored and thus provides a ready answer to the specific damage of each object.
A number of environmental monitoring projects were performed on historic stained-glass Windows in Germany from 1994 to 2012. The quality of the protective glazing was assessed by recording environmental Parameters in the interspace between the original and the protective glazing and on the inside of the original window. Tor this purpose, temperature, humidity and air velocity were measured. Particles were sampled with different methods and analysed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to determine their chemical composition. The effect of particles on model glass samples was investigated in climate chambers under accelerated weathering conditions. The results from in situ measurements and laboratory tests were combined to evaluate the potential effect of particulate matter on historic stained-glass Windows.
Several restoration projects of stained-glass windows have been performed in Lower Silesia (Poland) since 2010. The aim of the projects was to protect stained-glass windows against environmental impact of industial pollutants and acid rain by installing a protective glazing. The usefulness of protective glazing has been proved by climate measurements and determination of environmental impact before and after installation.