Viscosity of Wheat Starch Paste Used in Traditional Chinese Conservation Techniques

Abstract

In traditional Chinese conservation of historic books and mounted scrolls, the preparation and use of paste is an important process step. The viscosity of the paste is a key factor to consider, taking into account various parameters such as conservation technique, paper condition, or paper thickness. This study aims to determine the viscosity variation of diluted and thick pastes used in traditional Chinese conservation techniques with a rotary viscometer. During conservation treatment, as the number of restored leaves increases, the viscosity of diluted paste tends to increase significantly. The study highlights the different requirements for viscosity depending on its use either in Chinese books or Chinese hanging scrolls and emphasizes the importance of monitoring and adjusting paste viscosity during the conservation process. The use of a rotary viscometer, along with the traditional finger test method, is a significant step forward in improving the accuracy and efficiency of determining paste viscosity.