Assessing the Application of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate in the Cleaning of Historical Cotton Fabrics by Using Accelerated-Aged Samples

Although the issue of cleaning and washing the historical textiles and fabrics has been proposed in the field of conservation and restoration for a long time, it is still one of the important and challenging issues in this field. Depending on different characteristics of detergents, the cleaning formulation for various textiles will be different. Having different additives and changes of formulation due to time passing, industrial and commercial detergents lack sufficient and proper conditions to be used in such field. Choosing a detergent which is proportionate to the conditions of the textile and its physical features, has good cleaning effect and does not damage the textile and create bad effects on its fibers in the long run should be considered by the conservator in his plan. Regarding the extensive use of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate (Anion surfactant) in most detergents and its being available and economical, this research aims to investigate its suitability by investigating its advantages and disadvantages in the wet-cleaning of historical cotton textile. To reach such an aim, its cleaning capacity and damaging effects in the cleaning of cotton textile should be assessed. The method of this research is comparative-analytic and the data has been gathered via relevant experiments such as ATR-FTIR, colorimetery, tensile strain etc. The aged cotton textiles are washed by the detergent which consists of the under-study surfactant, and they are examined before and after washing. The results of this study show that it has no damaging effect on the cellulose and can be used in washing historical cotton textiles.