Cleaning Feathers with Surfactants What Is a Surfactant? Surfactants (or surface-active agents) reduce the surface tension of a solvent (usually water) so that the surface is more easily wetted[1]. Many surfactants also have the power to dislodge, disperse, and hold soil in suspension until it is rinsed off. Surfactants thus include wetting agents, emulsifiers, dispersants…
Can we solve(nt) the problem of cleaning feathers? A solvent is strong or weak depending on the dirt which needs to be dissolved! As we saw in our aqueous testing, feathers (especially those that have been aged) can experience significant and irreversible structural changes when exposed to water. With this in mind, as well as…
Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) have only one kind of plumage which is molted once a year. As expected for waterfowl, their feathers are superhydrophobic, thanks to a combination of a natural hydrophobic coating (preen oil) and the micro-structural topography of the feather. Throughout one year their feathers are exposed to harsh weather conditions and are…
When birds bathe to maintain their feathers, they sit or stand in shallow water and flap their wings and tails to scatter water onto the feathers and skin. Water droplets scatter from their feathers due to the water’s high surface tension and the feathers’ tendency to repel water. That water repellency, or hydrophobicity, is owed…
There are many examples of feathers used in art and cultural heritage materials spanning centuries. Some of the oldest examples include featherwork from South America, the Pacific Islands, and China. These intricate and awe-inspiring objects—cut-feather mosaics, full feathers used in clothing and regalia, diancui jewelry, etc.—made use of the natural colors of the birds as…
Museum Dust Composition and Deposition Conservators generally strive to remove accumulated dust with the intent to reveal the true nature of an object, to prevent damage, and to mitigate the appearance of neglect. Museum dust contains organic and inorganic particles, natural and synthetic fibers (from clothing, hair, dead skin cells), insects, plant and paper fragments, food, salts, and gaseous pollutants1. Particles of soot – mainly composed of carbon derived from the combustion of fuels used for heating and transportation – can form a dark, greasy deposit on object surfaces where sufficient…
We received a great response to our online survey – thank you to all who were able to participate!! One hundred and seven preservation professionals answered survey questions on a broad range of topics related to feather conservation including: priorities in cleaning preferred wet and dry cleaning methods damages observed as a result of cleaning…
Please consider participating in a conservation community survey on methods and materials used to preserve and care for feathers: Take the Survey! This community survey will guide our research plan. If you are a conservator or preservation professional who works (or has worked) with feather materials, please consider being a contributor. Some important points: The…
At its outset, execution of our inventory and condition survey of taxidermy mounts in storage in the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Mammalogy (see previous post) required clarification of what exactly can and cannot be considered “taxidermy.” What exactly is taxidermy? The word taxidermy is derived from the Greek words “taxis” meaning arrangement,…
For the 2011-2012 renovation of the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals dioramas, we were limited by the need for high lightfastness (resistance to fading), in situ treatment considerations, health and safety requirements, and reversibility/retreatability, so the project conservators looked to materials already in use in our profession (see previous posts for more details…
In Their True Colors 