Preserving wood artifacts?

[Fossils]

Hi all. Have any of you folks (particularly bottle diggers) dug up/preserved wooden artifacts?

I was digging at a bottle pit today and found a small Victorian-era toy boat made of wood. It isn't badly rotted, but parts of the wood seem kind of soft. I haven't cleaned it yet, so it's still caked with dirt.

How would one go about cleaning and/or protecting dug wood objects like this? Thanks!

 

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[GoldieLocks]

I am assuming you font wash it with water or anything very wet but brush the dirt off like an Archaeologist does, with a dry very soft paint brush.

 

[SusanMN]

There is stuff you can buy at hardware stores that will harden up soft or rotten wood.

 

[sandchip]

50/50 raw linseed oil and turpentine brushed on every day for a week, every week for a month, every month for a year, every year forever.

 

[Travis Shelby]

Protecting Wood with Oil. Oil whenever the wood feels dry. Outside of industrial uses, rubbing in oil is the most common way to preserve wood, especially the one that's really old & perhaps even waterlogged. The right oil will soak into the wood's pores, keeping the wood strong and slowing absorption of water that can cause rot. I would suggest using any oil based wood preservatives available in the market and avoid the water based ones. There are plenty of well known brands that provide great products. Consider paying a visit to your local improvement retailer.

 

[pepperj]

There is stuff you can buy at hardware stores that will harden up soft or rotten wood.

I used the product on a rimm joist that had a soft spot on it. Worked really well, but I can't remember if it discolored the wood.

 

[pepperj]

I use Linseed oil/beeswax, also there's raw or boiled linseed that I mix with pine tar 50/50.
The wood needs to be under 15% moisture for anything to work properly in preserving the wood.

Post up a picture, I would love to see if.

 

[Worm-Slicer]

PVA beads is what I use. Archeologists use it and you put it on once and don't have to do it over and over and great thing is it's reversible unlike other methods so it never soaks into the wood, just forms a protective barrier. Here are some eating utensils I dug from a CS camp of bone and wood preserved in this manner.