Textile conservation

J. E. Leene, Textile Conservation, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1972. 

S. Landi, The Textile Conservator s Manual, Butterworths, London, 1992. 

A. Timtir-Bakizsy and D. Eastop, Chemical Principles of Textile Conservation, Butterworths-Heinemann, Oxford (1998). 

Merrit, J. (1994), Fiber identification, Textile Conserv. Newsl. 27, 9-12. 

Tlm r-Bahizsy, A Eastop, D. Chemical Principles of Textile Conservation, Butterworth Heinemann Oxford, UK, 1998. 

Saltzman, M. "Analysis of Dyes in Museum extiles" or "You Can t Tell a Dye by Its Color", in Textile Conservation Symposium in Honor of Pat Reeves McLean, C.C., Connell, P., Ed. The Conservation Center, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Calif., 1986, pp. 27-39. 

I am indebted to James W. Rice, Chemist Consultant, Textile Museum, and Joseph V. Columbus, Conservator, National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D. C., for their long-time guidance and assistance in textile conservation. My thanks also go to Susan Gould for her valuable editorial work on my manuscript. 

Hueck, H., Textile Pests and Their Control, Textile Conservation, ... 

Some Techniques of Textile Conservation Including the Use of a Vacuum Hot Table... 

Oince most of my readers are not professional textile people at home among tabby weaves, compound silks, ikats, and double-cloth, I try to keep my textile terminology simple. I mention some of the problems we face in working with ancient textiles, some of the answers we have come up with, and the solutions for which we are still searching. It seems chemists have shown a bit of favoritism to painting, metal, and paper conservators and not to the textile conservator. Those in textiles do need chemical help, and I hope we can work together more closely in the future. 

Normally, the first step in textile conservation is the examination of the piece to determine the fibers from which it was made and the technique by which it was created. One determines the spin of the yarns, whether Z or S, and the number of wefts and warps per inch. Next, one tests for colorfastness first with distilled water, then with glycerin and water, and finally with a neutral detergent and water. If the colors run with any of these solutions, obviously the piece cannot be washed, and one tests with dry-cleaning solvents and other chemicals. 

In conclusion, the use of the vacuum hot table is not the answer to every textile conservation problem. It is one useful tool in the repertory. Each work of art, by definition, is unique. Therefore, each textile must be individually treated, using the method most applicable to the problems. 

Modification of the polymer or the presence of additives can effect the light resistance of a fiber. This is extremely important for textile conservation since fibers being produced currently by the man-made fiber industry may perform differently from those produced in earlier years. For example, a company bulletin, published first in 1960, reported that the resistance to chemical decomposition by fluorescent light or by sunlight of many of the nylons they manufactured had been improved (20). Titanium dioxide, which is used as a delustrant during the manufacture of fibers, can decrease their light resistance (13,15,18, 21, 22, 23). Dyes (18, 24, 25) and finishes (25, 26) are other important factors. 

TJart I of this series of papers (I) described attempts to prepare artifi-dally degraded cotton fabrics which would serve as suitable substrates for evaluating materials intended for use in the textile conservation workshop. While no one system completely reproduced the characteristics of naturally degraded samples, fabrics aged by irradiation were judged adequate for the consolidation study. 

Series IV Miscellaneous Materials. Various textile finishes were applied in this group of experiments. Many had been mentioned in the conservation literature as possible textile conservation aids (9,10). These resins were padded from 5% aqueous solutions with the exception of Butvar, which was dissolved in 2-propanol. All samples were air dried (Table V). 

Leene, J. E., Textiles, Textile Conservation, Chapter 2, Butterworths,... 

Textile Conservation for Period Room Settings in Museums and Historic Houses... 

One final aspect of Winterthur s textile conservation program is the construction of new reproduction sets, which present to the public an authentic view of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century designs for windows and bed treatments that demand an abundance of yardage. With the use of reproductions, Winterthur s historic fabric collection can be preserved for study and for the future. 

Once it is ascertained that a consolidant meets the original criteria of increasing tensile and tearing strength (or at least not decreasing them) while maintaining hand and flexibility and that the application process will not harm the fabric, it will be possible, and necessary, to address the questions of long term effects of treatment with the material. Only when this final characteristic is known will a consolidant be considered for use in the textile conservation laboratory. 

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