Earlier this year we installed one of our Compact Phoenix laser cleaning systems at the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine, USA. One of the first projects carried out with the new system is the cleaning of a 13 metre section of the wooden hull of the St. Mary, a 19th-century merchant sailing ship built in Maine and shipwrecked on its maiden voyage off the Falkland Islands in 1890. The outer hull portion of the ship has been on open display at the museum for 45 years and had acquired a significant patina of grease and dirt on the surface as a result of visitors touching the surface. Conservators have found the Nd:YAG laser handpiece of the Compact Phoenix to be an ideal tool for removing the dark dirt layer without damaging the wooden surface beneath.
Posted 23/12/2025