Application of the Fast Aging Technique to Wool Fabric Dyed with Natural Dyes Having Different Stains to Obtain Homogeneous Mimic Samples for Archaeological Measurements.

Abstract

This research uses a new technique to accelerate the aging of samples prepared to simulate those archaeological woolen fabrics. Natural dyed woolen Fabric with turmeric and mordanted with Alum, copper, and potassium dichromate were stained with three common stains found on archaeological textiles, namely; mud, oil, and rust, then exposed to UV/ozone for five different periods ranging from 5 min to 120 min. The effect of artificial fast aging on surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, the mechanical behavior was studied concerning testing tensile strength and elongation percentage. Also, the changes in the CIE L*a*b*color values and the total change in the color (ΔE*) were studied before and after exposure to the UV/Ozone. The detrimental deterioration effect of old stains on mimic samples had the same appearance as those cases of old stains on archeological objects in museums. It gave conservators valuable data for research and experiments about using materials like detergents, resins, consolidations substances, and others to provide results that are used as guidelines to decide whether to use it on actual old pieces or not. SEM images also showed the penetration of mud, oil and rust stains into the interstitial spaces of the hairs inside the woollen cloth dyed with different mordants. The results obtained proved with increasing the exposure time, the colour change and elongations % were increased while the tensile strength decreased. Oily stained Aluminum mordanted dyed fabric and muddy stained chromium mordanted dyed fabric increased the susceptibility to aging.