How to Protect Heirloom Fabrics
Heirloom fabrics can be anything from a grandmother's wedding dress or a baby's christening gown to table lines, quilts or tapestries. Knowing how to protect these heirloom fabrics while they are being stored, cleaned or displayed is vital for the enjoyment of future members of your family. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Low suction vacuum cleaner
- Fiberglass screen
- Acid-free storage boxes or tubes
- Acid-free tissue paper
Instructions
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Know that wood--even cedar chests and cardboard--can release acids that can interact with your heirloom fabrics and cause stains or other deterioration. Before purchasing archival, acid-free storage boxes, find out what kind of fabric your textile is made of. Plant fibers like cotton, flax, linen and jute need to be protected in buffered storage materials while animal fibers like wool, silk, hair, feathers and leather need unbuffered storage materials.
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Purchase acid-free archival textile storage boxes that are large enough for you to store your fabrics flat. If you do decide to fold an heirloom fabric, make the folds loose. Pad the layers of the folded fabric with acid-free archival white tissue paper or clean muslin. If you roll your heirloom fabric to store in an acid-free tube, wrap the layers in acid-free white tissue paper or clean muslin as you roll it. Change the acid-free tissue paper once a year for the best protection.
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Do not expose your heirloom fabrics to direct sunlight or to fluorescent lights. These can cause the colors in the fabrics to fade. Such damage cannot be repaired.
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Prevent mold and mildew by maintaining a constant temperature of between 60 and 70 degrees F. Keep the humidity at around 50 percent. Allow air to circulate freely around your heirloom textiles and never store them in uncontrolled environments such as an uncooled attic or an unheated damp basement.
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Check and keep the areas where your heirloom fabrics are displayed or stored free from insects that feed on the fibers. Moths eat wool, as do certain types of beetles.
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Vacuum heirloom fabrics with a low suction vacuum cleaner. First cover the fabric with a fiberglass screen and vacuum over the screen. This prevents the fabric from being sucked up by the vacuum. It will remove the dust that collects when heirloom fabrics are displayed. Never allow smoking in areas where you have heirloom fabrics on display.
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