Impact of Washing and Aging Process on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Pre-Hispanic Fabrics Found in the Museum of Site and Archeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac, Perú

This work aims to evaluate the impact of the washing and aging processes in the conservation of archaeological fabrics. The samples used are Peruvian textile found in the Museum of site and Archeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac, located in the Lurín district, city of Lima, Peru. The museum’s current cleaning protocol was replicated using two different surfactant concentrations, then, immediate and post-prolonged light exposure changes were analyzed. The obtained results show the effective removal of surface particles, mostly soluble salts; meanwhile, previously cleaned aged samples showed the ability to better withstand the aging process and better retain their mechanical properties compared to the untreated uncleaned sample. Likewise, samples experienced damage due to the photolysis effect on their surface; however, they do not exhibit a detrimental change in long-term mechanical properties.