BIOCLEANING

Cleaning is one of the first and most important steps in conservative restora- tion intervention, as it removes the unwanted layers of dirt and deposit from the surface of an artefact. It must be done selectively, however, by adapting the cleaning operation to the different zones and removing successive layers of deposit without acting directly on the original materials of the surface. Generally, cleaning protocols are based on chemical or physical procedures with potential negative effects for restorers’ health and/or for the materials constituting the artworks. As an alternative, solvent gels, rigid gels and resin soaps can be used for selective cleaning. In recent decades, biological cle…