Foxing

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the music group, see Foxing (band).
Heavy foxing on the title page of an 1832 textbook

Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on old paper

ferric oxide
which may be involved. Paper so affected is said to be "foxed".

Foxing is rarely found in

papermakers used less water and spent less time cleansing the rag fibres used to make paper.[3] An early work of art to have been affected by foxing is the Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk, a drawing on paper by Leonardo da Vinci.[4]

Foxing also occurs in biological study skins or

mold on melanin
.

Foxing can also be intentionally added to clothing to give it an aged appearance.

Aside from foxing, other types of age-related paper deterioration

atmospheric pollution, typically causing the paper to become brown and crumble at the edges, and acid-related damage to cheap paper such as newsprint, which is manufactured without neutralizing acidic contaminants
.

Causes of foxing

The causes of foxing are not well understood. One theory is that foxing is caused by a

rag from which the paper was made. It is possible that multiple factors are involved. High humidity
may contribute to foxing.

Repairing foxed documents

Foxed documents can be repaired, with greater or lesser success, using sodium borohydride,[7] proprietary bleaches, dilute hydrogen peroxide or lasers. Each method risks side effects or damage to the paper or ink.

Another method is to

image processing
program. This can usually remove the effects of foxing while leaving text and images intact.

In biological specimens

It is generally not advisable to repair study specimens, except perhaps for mechanical damage.

Type specimens should – if at all possible – not be altered in any way. If foxing affects the study value of a specimen (e.g. in bird or mammal skins or in insects, where it might affect diagnostic coloration), this might rather be remarked on the specimen label. Color standards[8]
can provide a means of documenting coloration before or in the early stages of foxing.

Foxed clothing

Foxing may also be applied to clothing through intentional

shirt collars, cuffs and shoes
, to make items of clothing appear older, used and well-worn.

It also has an older meaning of older, worn, comfortable and prized clothing that is worn despite frays, wear etc.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Foxing (PCC) - Wiki". www.conservation-wiki.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  2. JSTOR 4302211
    – via JSTOR.
  3. ISBN 0-486-23619-6
    .
  4. PMC 4959533
    .
  5. ^ "The Deterioration and Preservation of Paper: Some Essential Facts - Collections Care - Resources (Preservation, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  6. ^ Arai, Hideo (October 2000). "Foxing caused by Fungi: twenty-five years of study". Research Gate. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Masters, Kristin. "How to Prevent and Reverse Foxing in Rare Books". Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  8. ^ Smithe 1974.

Cited Sources

Related Works

External links

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