Preliminary Results of the Er:YAG Laser Cleaning of Textiles, Paper and Parchment

The main constituents of textiles, paper and parchment are proteins and polysaccharides. These organic matters are particularly sensitive to damage such as spotting, dimensional deformations, depolymerisation, and offer a surface particularly suitable towards the deposition of various materials. In the case of the paper and parchment cleaning, traditional techniques are well known, as well as the risk to make halos and shades when using the mechanical action of a scalpel or solvent mixtures to thin the spots. For textile artefacts the need to remove dust, spots, and mud residues is a duty though this action is quite difficult with traditional methods because the dense weft and warp structure does not allow a complete cleaning, without a minor damage of the artwork. The authors set up a research program to verify the possibility and the results of an Er:YAG laser equipment, emitting at 2,940 nm, following the results achieved previously in OPD on the treatment of organic materials (LACONA IV proceedings).