Non-laser light divestment in conservation and preservation

Abstract Over the past 10 years, laser technologies have found acceptance for surface divestment both in industry and in art conservation. The initial endeavors in exploring and assessing the utility of this art conservation tool are recounted for investigations involving ruby, glass, ion, YAG, carbon dioxide, dye, and excimer lasers with particular emphasis on the limitations that were encountered with each (in terms of speed, cost, wavelength, spectral width, and reliability). In response to these issues, a research effort is described that was instituted to assess non-laser (viz., incoherent) light sources (e.g., flashlamps, sparklamps, arclamps, and pinchlamps) for radiation cleaning. Initial demonstration projects with these sources included Parisian textile theater seats, leather-bound books, architectural stencil designs, courthouse ironwork, and Ming Dynasty marble statues. With non-laser light generators, substrate thermal alteration and debris redeposition often present problems. These may be minimized or avoided through the incorporation of a gas jet, static liquid, liquid jet, or dry-ice blast.