Abstract

The environmental conditions in Egypt are very different from the conditions required by international standards for storage rooms, display cases etc. These conditions make vegetable-tanned leather artifacts dry, brittle, stiff and weak. Leather artifacts need conservation treatment with lubrication materials from time to time. Although lubrication of leather may in fact be the most viable way of protecting leather in Egyptian collections, such dressings have been avoided, because the use of oils would promote mould growth. This study aims at addng fungicide to wax or oil formulations to control fungal growth and to improve the properties of leather.

Vegetable-tanned leather was treated with oil or wax formulations without and with fungicides. Untreated and treated samples were innoculated with 4 fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Penicillium funiculosum, Alternaria alternata and Trichoderma viride) which are commonly found in archaeological vegetable-tanned leather artifacts. The samples were assessed visually and by mechanical tests (tensile strength and elongation) plus an investigation of the surface morphology by SEM.

The results showed that vegetable-tanned leather samples treated with lubricants containing fungicides were more resistant to mould infection than the blank samples. However, samples treated with lubricants without fungicide were more resistant than the control sample that had not been treated at all. The index method, which is proposed by the author for the evaluation of mechanical tests is a good tool and can be used to evaluate other properties.