Odor in textiles

Lucie Heins <lheins [at] ualberta__ca> writes

>...  The smell of naphthalene is still very strong even
>though the staff aired the textiles before putting them in storage.
>Is there any possibility of reducing/eliminating the odour within
>the storage unit?  Is there an air cleaner (or other system)that
>would effectively deal with the odour? ...

In similar cases of textiles with strong odors, such as musty
leather and eye-watering moth repellant residue on carpets,
activated charcoal has proven to be very useful. Activated charcoal
is treated with oxygen to open up tiny spaces between the carbon
atoms, resulting in a material with a surface area of 300-2,000
square meters a gram.  The odors are adsorbed onto the surface of
the carbon.  Lengths of tubular cotton knit, such as surgical
bandage, are filled with activated charcoal and either sewn or tied
at each end. Two layers of cotton knit may be needed to prevent the
charcoal from leaking out into the storage container. The resulting
activated charcoal 'snakes' can then be placed inside drawers and
boxes, or be placed on the bottom of cabinets.  Its important to
keep them away from direct contact with the textile. Eventually the
charcoal will become exhausted and will need to be replaced.

Joanne Hackett
Associate Textile Conservator
Indianapolis Museum of Art


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:4
                  Distributed: Wednesday, July 6, 2005
                        Message Id: cdl-19-4-004
                                  ***