by Mavrantonis Panagiotis and Zoumpoulakis Loukas
ABSTRACT
The historical archive of the Greek Communist Party (paper, photographs etc) was badly affected in 1994 from a destructive flood. The aim of the paper is to report on the application of physicochemical methods to evaluate the damage and apply restoration techniques. The steps followed were: placing the ‘muddy’ material into fridges with low temperature to stop the development of the mould which was increasingly quick; cleansing and drying it, decontamination and sterilization in proper closets of 25 m3; adapt the space within the proper conditions and to insert the dried material, perform specific chemical treatment (De-acidification– Neutraliza-tion), solidify and restore by using Japanese preservation papers, place the material into folders and boxes with antacid – antifungal protection, computerize and store it electronically (digitalization). The purpose is to slow-down its chemical downgrade. The primary action that is taken for the future physicochemical course of the material is to secure stable humidity and temperature conditions as defined by scientific literature. All the above, at different levels, have contributed to the non-decomposition of cellulose.
