I am confronted with a beautifully printed but very badly oxidized wall covering from around 1760-1765, still in situ. (See images). The dark printed areas are starting to break out; some have been glued back at a past time. I am looking into treatments in parallel to gall ink corrosion treatments.

Has anybody ever treated printed cotton with cacium phytate? 

I have been reading about a research project into „dry iron gall ink stabilization“, but not found any results. Does anybody know more about it? The large size of the wall coverings (4 m x 2.2 m for the largest wall) and the fragility of the fabric would pose a serious risk when taking them down and bathing….

I am trying to compare pros and cons of all possibilities.

Any ideas and thoughts are most welcome!

Sincerely,

Karin.