Once the wood is cleaned, the following procedure is recommended:
1. Prepare a solution with a sufficiently low sucrose (1-5 percent) concentration to prevent the dehydration of well-preserved wood or regions of sound wood within an otherwise deteriorated piece. This necessitates the thorough examination of the wood to be treated in order to determine its state of preservation before treatment begins. With highly degraded wood, it is possible to start with a higher concentration of sucrose; however, if in doubt, start with a 1 percent weight/volume solution. Commence a program of weighing a representative sample of wood in treatment to determine when the wood has reached equilibrium with its solution. Once saturation with a given x percent solution is achieved, increase the sugar concentration by 1-10 percent.
2. Select an antimicrobial agent, such as Dowicide A, and add it to the first mixture of sucrose and water when it is initially prepared. This allows for the complete penetration and protection of the wood by the antimicrobial agent.
3. The incremental percentages of increase can be higher and more closely spaced if the wood is highly degraded. It is best to start with a low percentage increase, e.g., 1-5 percent, until a concentration of 50 percent is reached. Then the solution can be increased in 10-percent increments. Again, if in doubt, the same incremental increases used at the start of the treatment can be used throughout the treatment. The treatment continues until sucrose concentration reaches 70 percent, and the wood has equalized at this concentration.
4. If necessary, select an additive that will discourage insect and rodent attacks on the treated wood. There are many pesticides that will work, and selection depends on local availability. For thorough protection of wood, add the insecticide to the initial solution. If the wood is kept in a museum environment, problems with insects and rodents should be minimal and probably would be controlled by alternative means.
5. When the wood has reached an equilibrium with the highest solution desired, air dry it slowly under conditions of controlled high humidity. Humidity can be lowered slowly as the wood dries. Submitting the wood too quickly to conditions of low humidity will damage it. Slow, controlled drying and adjustment to the prevailing atmospheric conditions, as is the case in all the wood treatments described here, will maximize the success of the overall treatment.
6. Store the wood under conditions of less than 70 percent humidity if possible. The wood should not be subjected to humidity over 80 percent because of the possibility of condensation forming on the wood; this could leach out the sugar.
If sugar is selected as the treating medium, refined white sugar (pure sucrose) should be used. The brown- colored, coarse-grained unrefined sugar (Type A sugar) should be avoided, as it is much more hygroscopic than the white. Each time the relative humidity rises, the surfaces of wood treated in unrefined sugar will become wet. This hygroscopicity is analogous to that encountered when using the medium molecular weight PEGs. The Type A sugar-treated wood, however, remains dimensionally stable.
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