{"id":1215,"date":"2018-01-02T15:07:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjhblog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2018\/01\/02\/how-to-gellan\/"},"modified":"2018-07-05T19:55:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T19:55:34","slug":"how-to-gellan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2018\/01\/02\/how-to-gellan\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Gellan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kat Fanning, Preservation
\nAssociate at the Center for Jewish History<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

The first time that I started to
\ntake notice of the multitude of possibilities that applications of gellan was
\ncapable of was at my very first AIC conference in 2016, the 44th annual meeting
\nin Montreal, Quebec. I\u2019ve been waiting to test its potential ever since. And on
\nThursday, November 30th, I finally got to test it out! <\/p>\n

Preservation Services Manager,
\nJennifer Sainato, in the Cahnman Preservation Laboratory at the Center for
\nJewish History arranged to host a gellan gum workshop with Heather Hendry of the
\nConservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts. We had participants from
\nmany institutions; Yale, NYAM, NYHS, Brooklyn College, Cooper Hewitt, etc. <\/p>\n

A quick note on gellan – <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cGellan is a rigid
\npolysaccharide gel with a wide range of uses in conservation. Gellan is used at
\nCCAHA for washing items with water sensitive media; stain reduction; removal of
\nbackings, tapes, and adhesive residues; solvent delivery; and application of
\nchelating agents. Through presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on
\nactivities, participants will collaboratively explore the wide potential of
\ngellan treatments.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

Heather guided us through a brief
\noverview of gellan and some of its applications. Different concentrations are
\nuseful for different things. For example, a ~3.5% gel application is a good way
\nto introduce moisture slowly to a broad range of materials. A 5% gel is
\nfantastic for various treatment of very water sensitive material.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

Then we learned how to make it. It
\nis a relatively simple process, utilizing the microwave. It is possible to make
\nvarying thicknesses and concentrations of gellan for different applications.
\nJust be sure that if you are using the break room microwave, that it is not
\naround lunch time.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n

Finally, we were able to experiment
\nwith the samples that Heather was kind enough to bring with her. Tape removal
\nis always fun *sarcasm*.[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a>
\nEvery conservation professional should have an arsenal of removal methods for
\nthe hundreds of types of tape available in the world. In this workshop, we
\nexperimented with various kinds of tape with water soluble adhesive. Previously
\nto this workshop, I usually use a combination of SCMC, heat, and\/or water to
\nremove water soluble adhesive. Sometimes it is very difficult. Participants
\nwere even able to significantly reduce dark water staining from book cloth on a
\nbound volume. Unlike SCMC, there is also no shiny residue left behind that
\nneeds to be cleaned. <\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/figure>\n
\"image\"<\/figure>\n

My takeaways from the workshop were
\nthat:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nPreparation is not as difficult as
\nit seems. Just be sure to use metric to make life easy!<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nThe use of gellan is a fantastic
\ntool to keep in the toolbox for <\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\nslow introduction of moisture or
\nsolvent<\/p>\n

b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\ngreat and simple method for removing
\nwater soluble adhesive.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the generous
\nassistance of the Center for Art and Historic Artifacts and the the Center for
\nJewish History for hosting this hands-on workshop for local paper
\nconservators.\u00a0We in the Gisela and Levi Cahnman Preservation Laboratory at
\nthe Center for Jewish History look forward to hosting future workshops for
\nconservation professionals. For more information, please email us at <\/i>cjhpreservation@cjh.org<\/i><\/a>. Be sure to follow our instagram:
\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/centerforjewishhistory\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> I only know that time travel is not possible in my
\nlifetime because if it had been, I would have traveled back in time and
\nprevented so much tape application!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kat Fanning, Preservation Associate at the Center for Jewish History The first time that I started to take notice of the multitude of possibilities that applications of gellan was capable of was at my very first AIC conference in 2016, the 44th annual meeting in Montreal, Quebec. I\u2019ve been waiting to test its potential ever since. And on Thursday, November 30th, I finally…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2727,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions\/2727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}