Odor in textile collection

In Conservation DistList Instance: 10:45 (November 7, 1996) I wrote

>In my museum, the clothing and textile collections get strange
>smell. Those collections are from Southwest China's minority and
>Taiwanese aboriginal people. Since I got the job (June 4 this year)
>until now, the smell is always there. I have used the soda powder
>and silica gel to solve the problem, and  gradually the smell has
>turned weak. However, it still is there. What kind of test I can do
>to deal with the problem? Originally, I guess, possibly the problem
>is from the storage cabinets. However, those cabinets are from
>Interior Steel Equipment Company. This company has good reputation
>in the world; therefore the paints on the cabinets are not supposed
>to be the problem. Then, I looked at the records of those
>collections, all of them haven't been treated by pesticides. Is
>there anybody who can give me suggestion?

I had a chemist come and check the cabinet. The result is that the
adhesives which are applied on the cabinets have problem, and those
are the source of odor problem. Right now, I am in a bad situation.
I do not know how to solve the problem. I am looking for
suggestions. Also, is there any body who have interest to take a
look at the cabinets? Unfortunately, my museum does not have the
funding to have a conservator from other countries to take a look at
these cabinets. (PS. In my country, there is no conservator)

Sincerely,

Zu-Chun Liao
National Museum of Natural Science
Division of Collection and Research
1 Kuan Chien Rd.
Taichung, Taiwan,
Republic of China
+886 4 3226940 ext. 342
Fax: +886 4 3235367

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:77
                   Distributed: Monday, March 3, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-77-017
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