Benzyl alcohol in varnish

I am a paintings conservator working in Amsterdam with a badly
blanched painting.  The problem has been treated previously and is
recurring.  It seems that the painting had been cleaned very
aggressively in the past, and then I believe that the surface was
oiled out in an attempt to re-saturate the paint layer.  this layer
has now been removed with gels, revealing a very unsaturated,
blanched surface which does, however, look good when wetted out..

I have heard that that some conservators have used benzyl alcohol in
varnishes to modify the appearance of blanching.  I would be
interested to hear from anyone with experience of this treatment,
and would like to know why it might help or, indeed, of any
disadvantages. I would also like to know what ratios should be used.


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:19
                 Distributed: Monday, October 25, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-18-19-013
                                  ***