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Poultices
The true or plain poultice and the cleaning and
desalination of historic masonry and sculpture
Catherine Woolfitt and Graham Abrey
The term poultice has its origins in the field of medicine with the application of a cleansing
pack to the body to relieve infection. The notion of the poultice has been adapted for the
cleaning of historic buildings and a true poultice is intended to draw out deep-seated
contaminants and staining from the surface of masonry and sculpture. In current practice the
word poultice is extended to a wide range of cleaning materials and techniques, not all of
which achieve a true poultice effect on the substrate.
What might be termed the true or plain poultice contains water and the poultice medium only,
relying on these ingredients to achieve the mobilisation and removal of the contaminant. The
most common poultice medium is clay, although paper and cotton fibres are also used, and
talc, chalk and even flour are traditional poultice materials. A mixture of clay and paper fibre
produces an absorbent and plastic mixture that is often favoured by conservators of stone
sculpture.
Cleaning and desalination of an
outdoor marble sculpture using a
plain clay poultice
This plain or true poultice is normally used for desalination, to draw out soluble salts, or as a
cleaning method on substrates such as limestone that respond to water cleaning. In these
cases the poultice is allowed to dry out and the soiling and/or salts are drawn into the poultice by capillary action with the
moisture. Multiple applications may be necessary to draw the salts from within the surface pores. Whatever the medium, the
poultice is mixed with water to form a material that will adhere to the substrate. Clay forms a sticky mass that adheres well to
stone and other surfaces. These plain poultices can be conveniently mixed by hand as required on site with the addition of
water to the poultice medium.
Author
CATHERINE WOOLFITT BA
MA MArt Conservation is an
archaeologist, conservator and
a director of Ingram
Consultancy, a specialist
consultancy practice in the
repair and conservation of
historic buildings and
archaeological sites. [In 2008,
Catherine Woolfitt established
Catherine Woolfitt Associates
Ltd]
GRAHAM ABREY BSc (Hons)
PG Dip (Building Conservation)
is a building surveyor
specialising in historic buildings
and a director of Ingram
Consultancy.
Further information
RELATED ARTICLES
Cleaning
Masonry
Stone
CLEANING PACKS
The plain clay poultice may be modified with the addition of certain compounds to target particular stains or surface
coatings. These 'active' or 'chemical' poultices are designed for the removal of the various types of soiling and contaminants
that are insoluble in water and for those which have penetrated deep into the surface pores. Proprietary cleaners and
strippers are specifically designed and formulated for certain applications, including degreasing surfaces and paint stripping.
Poultices containing sequestering agents, such as EDTA, are available for the removal of metallic stains, the copper and iron
stains which frequently disfigure masonry subject to rain water run off from bronze sculpture or iron fixings. Sequestering
agents chemically isolate specific staining material such as metals, forming compounds which are soluble and can be
removed from the surface.
Alkaline poultice cleaners and strippers are commonly used for cleaning or degreasing
masonry surfaces and for paint removal. Sodium hydroxide is the most common alkaline
cleaning agent in proprietary cleaners for a range of masonry substrates, including limestone,
sandstone, brick and terracotta and is the most common ingredient in proprietary paint
removers. Care must be taken in the use of sodium hydroxide based cleaners to minimise risks
to the building and the user. Sodium hydroxide based cleaners and strippers must be
neutralised with acid afterwash. Adjacent, dissimilar building surfaces must be protected and
personal protective equipment worn by the cleaning operative. In the field of stone
conservation ammonium carbonate is added to clay and clay/paper poultices to remove soiling
from limestone. Ammonium carbonate is a less alkaline cleaner than sodium hydroxide. It
works by reacting with calcium sulphate on the soiled surface to form calcium carbonate and
soluble ammonium sulphate that can be rinsed off with water.
These 'active' or 'chemical' poultices are all applied to a pre-wetted surface to minimise
penetration of the chemical into the masonry surface and covered with plastic film to prevent
the poultice drying out. The cleaning additives in these mixtures chemically dissolve the soiling
or staining which is held to the surface of the poultice, and then both the cleaning agent and
the contaminant are removed with the clay. Rinsing with water and, where necessary
neutralisation, follows to remove any soiling that remains on the surface and also to remove residues of the chemical
cleaners. Strictly speaking these materials are clay-based cleaning packs rather than true poultices, but the word poultice is
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DESALINATION
Clay poultices, traditionally of either sepiolite or attapulgite clay, with fine particle sizes in the range of 50mm, have been the
usual choice for desalination of historic masonry suffering from soluble salt-related decay. The depth and degree of salt
contamination should be understood at the outset of the operation through drilling of masonry to obtain samples at various
depths for analysis of the types of salt present and their content. Pre-wetting with sprays must be sufficient for water to reach
and mobilise salts in the heart of the masonry, depending on the depth of contamination. The clay will need to be applied
with wire mesh or other reinforcement.
Once the poultice has dried out the clay can be removed and a sample must be checked for salt content. This procedure
should be repeated until the salt levels are significantly reduced. This procedure can take a long time and periods of months
rather than weeks should be anticipated for large-scale and thorough desalination of masonry walls. It should be noted that
dry clay powders are potentially hazardous substances and must be used with adequate personal protection, mainly to
prevent inhalation of the fine particles.
Desalination of sculpture and architectural detail on a much smaller scale is used to draw salts from vulnerable porous
surfaces. In certain cases, for example where the surface has open pores or has badly deteriorated (often the case with
limestone or sandstone sculpture), clay may be inappropriate and paper or cotton fibres may be preferable and more easily
removed. Decisions regarding the cleaning and treatment of sculpture should rest with an appropriately qualified and
experienced conservator.
Site trials are essential prior to any facade cleaning programme to establish which method will be most effective and to
indicate the 'level of clean' that can be achieved without risk of damage to the masonry surface. In inexperienced hands any
cleaning agent or piece of cleaning equipment can cause damage to surfaces. The cleaning of historic masonry facades
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should only be carried out by suitably qualified masonry conservation specialists, from the specification stage through site
trials and execution of the work.
Recommended Reading
C Andrew et al, Stonecleaning: A Guide for Practitioners, The Robert Gordon University and Historic Scotland, 1994
C Andrew et al, Stone Cleaning in Scotland, 3 volumes with Research Summary and Literature Review, Historic
Scotland and the Robert Gordon Institute of Technology, 1992
J Ashurst and F G Dimes, Conservation of Building and Decorative Stone, 2 volumes, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1990
N Ashurst, Cleaning Historic Buildings, 2 volumes, Donhead Publishing, 1994
MJ Bowley, Desalination of Stone: A Case Study, Building Research Station, April 1975
RGM Webster, Stone Cleaning and the Nature, Soiling and Decay Mechanisms of Stone, Proceedings of the
International Conference held in Edinburgh, UK, 14-16 April 1992, Donhead Publishing, 1992
C Woolfitt, 'Lime Method Evaluation in English Heritage Research Transactions', Research and Case Studies in
Architectural Conservation, vol 2, Stone, James and James, London, 2000
British Standards Institution, BS 8221-1:2000 and BS 8221-2:2000, Code of practice for cleaning and surface repair of
buildings; Part 1 Cleaning of natural stones, brick, and terracotta, BSI, London 2000
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