Things to change
This discussion page was started in July 2014 to collect ideas for improving this chapter. It includes the suggestions offered by the BPG Publications Committee, PCC Task Force in 2007-2009. Please feel free to add your own suggestions for improvement.
Update priority: High
- Media section does not discuss digital media and does not adequately describe coating / fixatives.
- 16.2.5 B. Physical Chemical d. graphite “shows little or no alteration with washing” this statement is false and needs to be re-addressed.
- 16.2.7 – Drying Methods K. Consider adding the Legion of Honor’s oversized hot air press for contemporary prints included in this section as a drying option used by printers and adapted by conservators.
- 16.3.4 – Enzymes – update this section substantially with newest manufacturers and distributors.
- There is now a page on enzymes, so the main information about enzymes should go on that page instead. --Sandrine Blais (talk) 16:48, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
- 16.3.6 – Chelating Agents-Update types of chelating agents currently in use / update manufacturers and distributors.
- There is now a page on chelating agents, so information about chelating agents should go on that page instead. --Sandrine Blais (talk) 16:48, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
- Add discussion of using calcium phytate to address iron gall ink corrosion.
- Instead link to iron gall ink page --Sandrine Blais (talk) 16:48, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
- 16.3.9 – Suction Table – This chapter needs to be written.
- 16.4.8 A – “Oriental technique” poor word choice for modern day description of Asia.
- Agree! This was fixed 2-3 years back. --Sandrine Blais (talk) 16:48, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
- D. Local Washing with Alkaline Solutions - Unwritten
- D. Local Washing with Chelating Agents - Unwritten
- D. Local Washing with Suction Table - Unwritten
- D. Local Washing with Enzyme Treatment - Unwritten
- Add discussion and links to articles on using cyclododecane as a temporary fixative for water-sensitive media.
Conductivity-adjusted water
Add discussion of adjusting the conductivity of water to improve washing (starting with citations below).--Kkelly (talk) 12:16, 7 July 2015 (CDT)
- IIC blog post on Wolbers workshop
- Stavroudis, Chris, Doherty, Tiarna, Wolbers, Richard. 2005. A New Approach to Cleaning I: Using Mixtures of Concentrated Stock Solutions and a Database to Arrive at an Optimal Aqueous Cleaning System (pdf). WAAC Newsletter 27 (2), pp. 17-28.
- Stavroudis, Chris, Doherty, Tiarna, Wolbers, Richard. 2005. A Novel Approach to Cleaning I: Using Mixtures of Concentrated Stock Solutions and a Database to Arrive at an Optimal Aqueous Cleaning System. AIC Paintings Specialty Group Post-prints, Portland, Oregon
- Sarkodie, Sophie. 2016. "Richard Wolbers’ ‘New Methods of Paper Bathing and Stain Removal’: Experimenting with Silicone." Blog post on The Book & Paper Gathering.
The section of the Washing page on surfactants recommends Triton X-100. In July 2017, I added a link to Sustainable Solvent Use for a discussion of the health and and environmental hazards of using Triton X-100. This section also talks about a Library of Congress formula that I am not sure is still in use.--Kkelly (talk) 07:20, 27 July 2017 (CDT)
In the 2018 reformatting project, the numbered outline format was removed. Re-consider this for the treatment steps, which should perhaps be reverted to 1..2..3 numbered steps--Kkelly (talk) 14:31, 22 May 2018 (CDT)
2026 art on paper discussion
Since the 2026 CAC-AIC Montreal conference's Art on Paper discussion will be on the topic of washing, it would be great to use people's comments and momentum to revisit this page, maybe creating a working group to update it
--Sandrine Blais (talk) 15:51, 26 November 2025 (UTC)
Timeline of paper washing methods
During her presentation for the art on paper discussion, Crystal Maitland showed a miro board with flow charts and a timeline of washing supports and techniques. I got her verbal permission to use her timeline on this page, but she asked that we fact-check it before using it. I think it might be better to recreate the timeline and with wikilinks to the various techniques and supports. Verify with her before adding to the page however --Sandrine Blais (talk) 16:35, 13 May 2026 (UTC)
