Evaluating the Stability of Commercially Available Artists’ Coloring Materials Used to Create Compensation Infills for Losses in Textiles

Abstract

When there is a loss in a textile, the response is to prepare a suitable structural support. Current connoisseurship trends may require the support to be more cosmetically integrated than did the aesthetics of a decade ago. Coloring agents, such as permanent inks, hand-applied dyes, fabric paints, and markers, and methods such as hand-painting and color photocopying are now being explored as alternatives to an overall dyed patch. These present immediate results and greater artistic choice, and they allow for precise control. This study attempts to determine some appropriate coloring materials. Initially 29 materials were chosen and subjectively evaluated for their aesthetic qualities based on criteria needed when recreating printed or overall dyed infills. A printed infill requires fine-line reproduction with no feathering. An overall dyed patch requires even coverage without stiffness and smooth texture without thickness. Of the 29 original materials, the 10 that possessed the characteristics needed for both drawing and coverage were then examined to determine their stability and aging characteristics. Bleed resistance, wash-fastness, absence of acidic off-gassing, crocking resistance, and lightfastness were evaluated. No material proved resistant in all testing. The results of this study can be used to select, from those materials tested, the best colorant for a particular conservation treatment.