Laser Cleaning of Sculpture, Monuments and Architectural Detail: Fid-Bau Portal

Laser Cleaning of Sculpture, Monuments and Architectural Detail

Cooper, Martin

The use of laser cleaning has now become routine in a number of specialized conservation studios throughout Europe. The technique is most widely applied to sculpture and monuments, for which commercially available laser cleaning systems are now available and are used to provide sensitive, high-quality cleaning. The use of laser cleaning on buildings has tended to be restricted to areas of sculptural and architectural detail, where cleaning of the highest quality is required. The systems employed on such work are usually ‘scaled-up’ versions of the systems used in conservation studios, i.e. larger more powerful laser systems which allow faster cleaning rates. Transferring laser cleaning from the conservation studios to the relatively harsh environment of the outdoor work site is not as straightforward as it may seem at first. Considerations such as dirt, power supply, handling of equipment, temperature extremes in summer and winter, and safety must be dealt with if a project is to be completed successfully. Over the past ten years, significant advances have been made in these areas as experience of large-scale outdoor work has been gained and laser cleaning systems have been adapted for such work. This paper describes some of the issues that have been addressed as laser cleaning has moved out of the relative comfort of the conservation studio.