Editor's note: so many people were interested in Chanelle's work that we asked for a follow-up. These were the results of her experiments at removing the permanent ink from parchment. For more information, you can reach her at [email protected].
By Chanelle Briffa
Before and after (left and right respectively): 5% benzyl alcohol/ Velvesil Plus™ gel was applied to the hair side of the parchment, using a Nr. 1/8 Majora Brush. A thin, uniform, layer was applied and re-applied to the circled areas, every 2.5-3.5 hours (the amount of time it took for the gel to dry). The gel was re-applied until no ink could be observed when the gel was swabbed off. The remaining ink outside the circled area was purposely left to aid with the comparison when visual observations were made. Visual observation suggests that the gel does not cause the substrate to cockle and it does not aesthetically affect the parchment.
The treatment was conducted in an average RH of 63.9% and an
average temperature of 24ºC.
