Storage of textiles

Scott Campbell <ScottCampbell<-a t->adidam< . >org> writes

>We have a clothing collection which we are moving into our archives.
>We want to store them on hangers and in such a way that dust cannot
>settle on the clothing. The DeYoung Museum in San Francisco uses muslin
>bags and then houses their clothing in metal cabinets to control dust.
>We cannot afford the cabinetry right now, either financially or in
>terms of space requirements. So, I would like to know if anyone uses or
>knows of a manufacturer of plastic clothing bags which are constructed
>of polypropylene or another safe form of plastic.

It would be advisable to store sturdy textiles on padded hangers
with cotton muslin dust covers as opposed to plastic dust covers.
Textiles enclosed in plastic may be prone to damage from changes in
humidity which can occur in an environment within a plastic bag.
Dust can also be attracted to the textiles as a result of the
electro-static charges created with the plastic bag environment. You
might wish to post this and other questions on the newly created
TEXCONS which is a discussion group for Textile Conservation. To
*send* a message to the TEXCONS discussion list, address it to:
texcons<-a t->simsc< . >si< . >edu and your message will automatically be sent to
all members of the list.

    **** Moderator's comments:  See also the TEXCONS archives in
    Conservation OnLine
    <URL:http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/texcons/>

Gail Niinimaa
Textile Conservation
Calgary, Alberta

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:3
                   Distributed: Monday, June 23, 1997
                        Message Id: cdl-11-3-005
                                  ***