FRÅN VITT TILL GRÖNT, RÖTT ELLER BRUNT: Kan blindering åtgärdas med kunskap vi redan har?

Abstract

Blanching is a common phenomenon affecting the binding medium within the paint, resulting in an abnormality of the paints light scattering. Multiple studies have confirmed that the change is the result of pore formation within the binding medium caused by humidity or water damage. Previous research has centred around the cause of blanching, and little is published about treatments. This study aims to evaluate the viability of established conservation materials in the treatment of blanching, with the hope of finding an easily accessible treatment option. Aged and unaged samples of oil paint with three different pigments have been studied, providing the opportunity to study the variable of age on blanching. The samples were subjected to an artificial blanching process, after which consolidants where applied and tested. Every step of the study has been documented with spectrophotometry and optical microscopy. An assessment of the collected data show that Laropal A81 perform the overall best result out of the consolidants evaluated. Furthermore, from the microscopy images a surface deposit was noted and analysed, however this does not rule out the existence of both blanching and surface deposit. The analysis imply that a significant chemical change has occurred during the blanching process, when compared to non-blanched reference samples, but will need to be studied further to determine the exact change. The results from this study provide ground for further research into the chemical cause of blanching and the behaviour of the phenomenon. While having established a potential treatment option, further examinations need to be performed to validate the use of Laropal A81.