An Applied Study on Using Laser for the Conservation of an Archaeological Textile Embroidered with Metal Threads at the Museum of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University (No. 121/5)

Abstract

There is an urgent need to use laser cleaning for a complicated textile because it is an effective technique for metal artifacts. It offers a high degree of control, especially in cleaning fragile and very detailed artifacts (Abdel-Kareem & Al-Saad, 2007). The inherent unique properties of laser light, such as intensity, monochromaticity, directionality, and coherence, have made lasers effective tools in a variety of applications in the industrial and biomedical fields. Furthermore, a good understanding of the phenomena happening at the interaction of laser radiation with materials is fundamental for the success and optimization of any laser-based application. Therefore, laser cleaning depends on the nature of the material to be removed (Fotakis, Anglos, Zafiropulos, Georgiou, & Tornari, 2007). The study adopted Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, which is the most common type in conservation. It employed investigation and analysis devices, such as SEM-EDX, XRF, and XRD.