TEXTILES

Storing textiles

Adverse storage conditions affect all items in a collection. The effects are not always dramatically obvious. Changes occur gradually over a long period of time. However, once the changes have occurred they are often irreversible, or require complex and costly treatment to deal with them.

A good storage environment prevents physical damage and helps to slow down chemical deterioration, greatly increasing the life of your textile items.

Ideal storage conditions for textiles

Textiles are considered to be sensitive materials; that is, they are extremely vulnerable to damage when stored or displayed in inappropriate environmental conditions.

Ideally, textiles should be stored in an environment where the temperature is constant and moderate: in the range 18–22⁰C.

Relative humidity should be constant and in the range of 45–55%. This can be very difficult in extreme climates. If it is not possible to keep the relative humidity within these limits, it is important to avoid rapid fluctuations in relative humidity.

Light should be kept to a minimum. Light is required only when the textiles have to be viewed, for example, when they are being accessioned, treated, or used for research. Information about appropriate lighting levels is given in the section Ideal Conditions for Displaying Textiles.

Protect textiles from pollutants, dust and insects.

Airborne chemicals that most commonly affect textiles include smoke, oil and acids. Smoke causes staining and discolouration, which are extremely difficult to remove. Textiles displayed in a room with a fireplace or where smoking is permitted should be housed in smoke-proof containers such as sealed frames or sealable boxes.

Acids are also given off in small quantities by pest strips and some types of plastic. Consequently, pest strips normally should not be used inside enclosed storage areas.

Practical hints for storing flat textiles

Small flat textiles can be stored flat, either in a box or on covered shelves. Dust covers should be provided for textiles on open shelves.

Always interleave textiles with acid-free tissue, if a number of them are stored one on top of the other.

Take care to not stack too many items on top of each other and place heavier items on the bottom of the stack.

If a textile needs to be folded, the fold needs to be padded—either with crumpled tissue or with a covered Dacron sausage. This is made from a tube of white or unbleached cotton filled with Dacron. Padding is an important precaution because textiles will eventually split along the line of sharp folds or creases.

Textiles stored flat in a metal plan chest. The textiles are padded and protected with acid-free tissue. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

Ideally, larger flat textiles should be rolled. When choosing a roller on which to store a flat textile, there are several things to consider.

The diameter of the roller should be as large as possible-to minimise the curvature of the textile when it is on the roll.

The roller should be longer than the textile's width, so that when rolled, the ends of the roll are exposed and the edges of the textile are protected by the projecting ends of the roller.

The roller should be covered with an acid-free material such as acid-free tissue, acid-free paper or Tyvek. This protects the textile from impurities and other damaging chemicals which might be contained in the roller. The tissue also provides a soft surface on which to roll the textile.

Click here to see diagram

Padding and covering a roller. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

It is important that the textile is clean and dry. A dirty or damp textile is likely to deteriorate in storage; and this may go unnoticed for a long time.

When a textile is rolled, the front side of the textile should face away from the roller.

If the textile has a pile—like velvet—it should be rolled in the direction of the pile, with the pile facing out.

Fringes or tassels should be kept straight in the rolling process. You can do this by sandwiching the fringe or tassels between acid-free tissue before you start rolling.

To prepare the textile for rolling:

• lay the textile out, face-down onto a clean, flat surface. Make sure that the weave of the textile is straight, and check that the weave of the fabric is not warped;

• cover the textile with a layer of acid-free tissue paper. Check that there are no creases in the tissue: these can cause corresponding creases in the textile, and damage it;

• if the textile has areas of padded decoration or the weave is distorted in any way, it will interfere with the rolling process. A piece of Dacron polyester wadding wrapped in acid-free tissue should be placed over the acid-free tissue in the location of the decoration or distortion. The Dacron must be covered, to prevent any of its fibres transferring to the textile or catching on any surface decoration; and

• if you leave approximately 100mm of tissue protruding beyond your textile, you can use this to start the rolling procedure.

When you have finished preparing the textile:

• place the covered roller on the protruding end of the tissue and start rolling. Use a firm pressure so that, as the textile is rolled onto the roller, it remains straight and firm.

• the weave should be kept straight while the textile is being rolled;

• once the textile is fully rolled, cover it with another layer of acid-free tissue and/or Tyvek. Secure the cover by tying the ends with cotton tape. It is important to not tie the tape too tightly, because it can distort the edges of the rolled textile;

• very large textiles should also be tied with cotton tape in the centre, to prevent sagging. Again, do not tie the tape too tightly, it might damage the textile; and

• label the textile clearly to identify it in storage.

Rolling a large textile onto a roller. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

Preparing historic garments for storage

It is important to ensure that garments are as clean and dry as possible before they are packed away. If the costume is not cleaned, colourless stains may darken with age, and insects such as the clothes moth and carpet beetles will be attracted to organic stains from perspiration and food.

If the garment is strong, it is advisable to have it dry-cleaned.

There are some steps you can take to minimise the risks associated with dry-cleaning historic costume:

Always use a drycleaner who is a member of a professional drycleaner's association.

Be sure to ask for special care if the item is fragile or complex.

Prepare your garments carefully for dry-cleaning, by either covering buttons and hooks with Dacron or by removing them from the garment.

Request that the garment be cleaned on its own.

Ask the drycleaner to place the costume in a bag in the dry-cleaning machine. This gives it support and prevents it rubbing against other items if it is not on its own.

It is better to clean historic costume in fresh solvent—so ask the drycleaners when they are next changing their solvents and schedule your work for that time.

Remember, it is better to leave a garment stained than to damage it greatly during cleaning; so leave fragile items until you have had a chance to seek advice.

An easy, do-it-yourself padded hanger for costumes

Apart from very heavy or fragile items, many garments can be stored on padded hangers. Padded hangers are used for hanging costume such as shirts, bodices and dresses. Other items such as trousers or skirts need additional support. It is important to remember that by ensuring an even distribution of weight on the hanger, you will be giving the item maximum support while it is hanging in storage.

A 19th century velvet and lace bodice hanging on a padded coat-hanger. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

Padded coat-hangers are quite simple to make—just follow these steps. You will need:

• a coat-hanger—it should be strong and made of either wood or plastic. Wire hangers are not suitable. Make sure that the size of the coat-hanger is appropriate for the garment to be hung. For example, don't use a large coat-hanger for a child's garment. The hanger can be cut down to the appropriate size if necessary;

• fabric—all fabrics used to cover the hanger must be washed before use. White or unbleached fabrics are preferred. Unbleached calico or white/cream, stretch-cotton fabrics are ideal;

• Dacron;

• thread;

• a needle; and

• scissors.

Place layers of Dacron polyester wadding over the hanger, padding it to the same width as the shoulders of the garment. The hanger should be padded to suit the shape of the garment; for example, if the garment has sloping shoulders make the padding to match. The Dacron may need to be hand-stitched to hold it in place.

Click here to see diagram

Once the padding is in place, cover the Dacron with fabric to provide a smooth surface on which to rest the garment. A stretch fabric is generally easier to fit and sew into place.

Click here to see diagram

For additional support, for example, for a dress with a heavy skirt, sew white, cotton tapes to the inside of the waistband, then tie these over the coat-hanger to take the weight of the skirt. Sew at least four tapes onto strong areas of the waistband. If four tapes are not enough to fully support the weight of the skirt, use more. Use a fine needle for sewing and sew through all layers of the waistband.

Click here to see diagram

Finally, make covers for each garment to protect them from dust. The best materials for making covers for hanging garments are clean, washed cotton, for example, old cotton sheets or calico, and Tyvek.

Storing garments in costume boxes

Sometimes hanging storage is not appropriate—either because the garments are too heavy or too fragile to safely carry their own weight, or because you don't have an appropriate storage space.

If hanging storage is not appropriate, the items should be well padded and packed in boxes.

Polypropylene costume boxes from a supplier of conservation materials. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

Acid-free costume boxes can be bought from conservation suppliers; or you can make your own following the directions below.

If acid-free boxes are not available, normal boxes or drawers can be lined with Tyvek and used for storage. The Tyvek will act as a barrier between the box material and your textiles.

When packing garments in boxes, it is advisable to pad the garments. Crushed, acid-free tissue can be used along all of the folds in the garment and on the side seams, shoulders and sleeves so you will also need enough acid-free tissue paper to pad one average-size garment.

Remember, creases and folds should be well padded, to minimise stress on the fabric. With time, creases develop into splits if not padded adequately.

Take care to not put too many textiles in one box, because the weight may crease the lower textiles. Always put the heaviest costume on the bottom.

Wherever possible, keep all of the parts of one costume together.

An easy, do-it-yourself costume box

This box is made from 6mm-thick acid-free Foam Cardboard.

Cut the board into a square or rectangle. Once you have decided on the dimensions of the base, the dimensions of the box can be worked out as shown on the diagram below.

The base of the box should be a little bit larger than the costume, while the height should be sufficient to accommodate the costume and padding.

On the interior surface, draw lines in pencil: 1, 2, 3 and 4 as shown on the diagram.

Click here to see diagram

The next step is to draw in additional construction lines, shown in the next diagram.

Click here to see diagram

With a utility knife or Stanley knife, cut completely through the Foam Cor board on the dotted lines indicated in the diagram below.

Discard the four corner pieces.

Click here to see diagram

The cut Foam Cor is now ready to be assembled into a box.

Along the dotted lines shown in the diagram below, cut through the upper two layers of the Foam Cor board, being very careful not to cut the bottom layer.

Click here to see diagram

In the stippled areas indicated in the box diagram above, peel off the upper two layers, being careful not to damage the bottom layer. The cross-section of the board will look like this when you have finished:

Click here to see diagram

It is worth practising this with the discarded corner pieces of Foam Cor.

Score the four edges of the base of the box with a Stanley knife between the double lines drawn in pencil on the board; cut half the thickness of the board out between these lines. The board should look like this:

Click here to see diagram

This will allow for a smooth edge when the sides are folded up.

To assemble the box:

• fold the four walls along the scored lines;

• the wall corners should overlap as show in the diagram below;

Click here to see diagram

• fold the flaps, which were left after you peeled away the top two layers of board, over the adjacent wall and stick them down with acrylic or polyvinyl acetate—PVA—adhesive. The flaps should be stuck securely; make sure that you completely cover the inside of the flap with adhesive and press it onto the wall;

Click here to see diagram

It is wise to stick each flap individually, and weight it while it dries.

The corners and edges of the box can be strengthened by covering them with cotton adhesive tape.

The lid is made in exactly the same way as the box. The lid sits over the top of the box walls, extending down 50mm. The interior dimensions of the lid should be slightly larger than the exterior dimensions of the top of the box. The lid should fit snugly, but not tightly; it should lift off easily without jerking the box.