Silicone in stone

At the museum we have a problem removing silicone molding remains in
the porous of basalt stone. Some time ago, a mold was made from a
sculpture (relief) made from basalt (not smooth stone). Probably,
because the RTV silicone has aged and lost its elasticity, cured
silicone remained in the pores. Cleaning it mechanically takes too
much time--tool cause it to break into bits and pieces. We are
looking for a practical chemical or semi-chemical

    **** Moderator's comments: It was necessary to rewrite the above
    for the sake of clarity. It is possible that translation errors
    have crept in.

Latif Ozen


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:7
                   Distributed: Monday, July 31, 2006
                        Message Id: cdl-20-7-023
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