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Wet Work - Washing, Deacidification & Bleaching

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  • Great job Matt!
  • Matt,

    That looks really great!


    Cheers,
    dario.
  • I can't see pictures today, but I don't want to be left out!  Fabulous! (but I'll confirm for sure tonight when I get home :) )

  • English one sheet. Above Us the Waves

    Looks like someone spat on this poster twice. Huh?

    Plenty of dirt came out in the wash on this one.

  • I need arrows!
  • Lower two foreheads, stains running down through the U and the W of the title.

  • Thank-you, and good job!
  • Not sure if I posted this one but it was a good re-read:

    http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v10/bp10-10.html
  • You haven't. Nice!
  • I used to linen back posters in a purpose made plastic bath with drain plug in one corner, but I used fine flexible green garden mesh and sandwithced the poster in between them lowered it into the Bath weather for washing or bleaching that way the poster cannotfold back its fully supported I also fixed wood poles eachend of the two lengths of mesh for handling and support. Flicksie 
  • Thanks for that Flicksie. So you don't back posters anymore?

    Oh and Welcome!

  • Yes, welcome! Would love to see some of the posters you worked on. 
  • Hi Matt, I have Not linen backed any posters for over a year I always seem too busy, though I did used to back up railway posters travel posters and sporting posters. Calcium Chloride make a better cleaning agent than Chloramine T. But watch it all the time. 15-30 min depending on the stain/dirt, wash at least 3 times. Lobby cards clean up nicely too. 
  • One of the posters is in on my I’d pic above, it is Curse of the Werewolf it is still in the frame I use for mounting here, I trim it out and sold it to some one in a he USA. 
  • I bought a 1954 Jane Russell  titled Underwater, it was a 3 sheet poster in bits lots of tears dirt etc when it was finished it too went back to america through Christie’s. 
  • Thanks for the welcome, it all started when I collected movie posters some I got were great but damaged I wanted to fix them so I Typed in on you You Tube movie poster restoration and a couple fo sites came up, He was great it showed him doing everything from start to finish, I think he was in Manhattan he made a business out of it if I remember his name I will let you know. Bob.
  • Chris at Posterfix ring any bells?....
  • God I hope not  :|
  • I transitioned from Chloramine T to Sodium Hypochlorite and it works wonders...
  • Flicksie said:
    I bought a 1954 Jane Russell  titled Underwater, it was a 3 sheet poster in bits lots of tears dirt etc when it was finished it too went back to america through Christie’s. 

    That's on my want list.
  • Matt do you find that the paper consistency is changed much after you do the bath and let air dry (with no backing)?  In my limited experimentation I have found that the paper becomes more rigid and less pliable...
  • Matt do you find that the paper consistency is changed much after you do the bath and let air dry (with no backing)?  In my limited experimentation I have found that the paper becomes more rigid and less pliable...
    agreed. it's like the posters you'd buy that state, "discoloration from exposure to moisture" and the paper IS more rigid/stiffer.
  • I would say it is stiffer but if you just wash, the resizing process (shrink/swell) makes it seem that way but it is the same - no real change. For example I have washed a quad and I rolled it up after drying there was really no difference. 
  • I know paper, usually post '60s paper will become stronger with rehydration, but not sure how it is the same with no real change. do you mean structurally? 

    The paper does deform if bathed and not flatten out by some sort of press or paper/linenbacked?

    What year was your quad? I would imagine the more recent the paper (glossy/clay based) the more it would react.

    my only experience with not backing paper after a wash was a lobby card and it curled up & was wrinkled with in 24 hours is not adhered to a flat surface while drying.

  • Yes, the paper will deform in some ways but I don’t find it any more brittle or changed other than the deformation.  It was a Zombie quad late 70s that I washed and removed tempura paint from but found sharpie ink under that, so no go... I let it dry and found it no more brittle than before I washed it. 
  • sounds good. thx. I have a two Elvis one sheets, and they both were "exposed to moisture" and they are "warpy" along the fold lines and few other places, but other areas feel as strong as the rest of the paper which did not see moisture.

  • edited June 2018
    Flicksie said:
    Hi Matt, I have Not linen backed any posters for over a year I always seem too busy, though I did used to back up railway posters travel posters and sporting posters. Calcium Chloride make a better cleaning agent than Chloramine T. But watch it all the time. 15-30 min depending on the stain/dirt, wash at least 3 times. Lobby cards clean up nicely too. 
    Hi Flicksie,wich is the quantity of Calcium Chloride to add in the water?
    And what is the waiting time for wash beetwen at least 3 times? 
  • edited February 2019
    Regarding use of acetic acid as a reactant after deacidification and bleaching chemicals... is that the same as vinegar? If it's neat acetic, wouldn't it burn?

    Rod
  • Matt said:

    My calcium hydrochlorite arrived today. So I spot bleached the poster. Pretty pleased with the outcome and learnt a few things on the way. Probably used to much in the blue area up top left. The poor poster ahs been washed a few times now. A few more tears and tiny holes but I'm extremely happy nonetheless.

    First old photo


    Matt, if you're still around: How did you dilute the calcium hydrochlorite? What was the ratio of calcium hydrochlorite to water? How exactly did you apply it? Did you soak a sponge in the solution and then wipe down the whole poster with it, and then rinse off with fresh water? Any details you can give as to the exact process you used would be helpful. Thanks.
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