In contrast to this, tempera-bonded felts create a separating layer which despite their breathability minimizes concentration of bonding agents in the wrong places.
On many occasions when exposing hidden wall paintings, we found that glue-bonded coatings are more easily removed when under tempera-bonded felts than under paper. Concerns that the surface which is to be covered might suffer mechanical stress during the application of felts have not materialized. The carrier suffers only minimal stresses from the two-layered application. Tempera-bonded felts do not strengthen the carrier, rather they serve to create a removable cover of the painted surface in question, as well as providing a texture that emulates the aspect of the surface at the time of original construction.
This product is a proprietary development of our company and has been in use since 1995. The actual composition is based on our knowledge of historical recipes. The felts have been employed with a vastly divers array of objects/projects, where it was the aim to create a removable plaster-like surface that serves as a base for coatings of all kind. It has been our experience that the felts deliver a stable base a lot less sensitive to mechanical stresses than paper lamination with sanded surfaces. We also saw that felts work as an effective way of bridging ruptures and cracks, seldomly developing hair cracks and only under high degrees of stress. Despite its property of easy removability, the felt layer does not peel off from accidental water damage or other damaging processes a fact that attests to the diffusivity and lack of tension of and within the material itself. Application followed by animal glue coatings (bonding) have also delivered good results.