A preliminary investigation into the application of agarose-enzyme gels in textile conservation

Abstract

Introduction of the gelling agent agarose into the textile discipline has provided another vehicle for the application of localised cleaning. Application both within and outwith the textile discipline has included various solvents, chelating agents and enzymes. Various aspects of an agarose application can be adapted such as concentration, gel height and treatment duration. However, presently there are limited publications specific to application of agarose on a textile substrate. Available literature has indicated that application of agarose on textiles is heavily impacted by the fibre type and requires different parameters from cross-disciplinary use. The aim of this study is to determine the optimal application parameters of an agarose-α amylase gel for the removal of heavily accreted wheat starch from a cotton substrate. Investigation of three concentrations of agarose and three treatment durations on both thermally aged and unaged samples indicated that localised application of agarose-α amylase was effective. Evaluation of the efficacy of the treatment indicates that the optimum application parameter is the application of 3% agarose gel. The findings did not suggest a difference in efficacy between different treatment durations or sample age. Further research could be undertaken to investigate barriers to control lateral water movement and application parameters for other fibre substrates.