“The document was removed from its frame using hand tools to open the frame. There was very little holding it in place. There were failed pressure sensitive tapes on the recto and nothing on the verso. The tapes has degraded, the adhesive failed and the support discoloured where they had been in contact.

The parchment was then surface cleaned using a soft goats’ hair brush to remove any loose surface dirt and fibres from the mount.  

The adhesive residue was on the external edge of the recto, encroaching up to approximately 5mm into the document. This was tested for removal methods as stated above. Removal with hand tools was found to be the best method and was employed to successfully remove the adhesive residue from the recto. Although more effective than using a gel method, it was no quicker. Gladly, the residue had sat on the surface and not penetrated the support. Therefore, leaving no residual staining. 

The seals had a build-up of surface dirt and debris as is often seen with documents like these. These were cleaned first using a soft brush and then with a slightly firmer brush and distilled water to remove the more ingrained dirt. 

The document was humidified to relax it prior to pressing. It was placed in a Gore-Tex chamber which consisted of a layer of dampened capillary matting at the base followed by a layer of Gore-Tex on top of this and the document resting on this. All of this was contained in a large tray and covered with a sheet of polythene. This method of humidification allows moisture to very slowly be introduced to an object in vapour form. It enables humidification and relaxation of an item in a very gentle manner which does not disturb sensitive supports or pigments. The document was in the chamber for approximately 5 hours. Once it was suitably relaxed the document was placed between “Bondina” to protect the media, and blotters which was placed under a board with weights. The bottom edges of the fabric tags were also pressed between blotters and under weights as they had been distorted and folded.”