Freezing wet textiles

During recovery work after the floods in Switzerland there was a
controversial discussion about the possible negative effects of
freezing wet textiles. The concerns were that ice crystals will grow
inside the fibres and cause damage. Fortunately at that point of the
discussion clean water became available again; we therefore continued
rinsing and air drying the textiles, and freezing the textiles to
avoid mold outbreak on the muddy wet textiles in order to gain time
became unnecessary. Nevertheless, I would like to find out if there
are any articles about research concerning the effect of freezing on
wet textiles.

I am well aware of  the publications dealing with freezing as a pest
control method and its effects on (dry) textiles. What I am looking
for, however, is information on the effect of freezing (not only
freeze-drying) on textile fibres when textiles are completely
soaked. I am also aware that freezing is done rather frequently when
block salvaging textiles and is recommended on many internet based
recovery-information sites. But I am not aware of any scientific
research demonstrating what is actually going on during the freezing
process. I welcome any information or comment.

Karin von Lerber
Prevart GmbH
Oberseenerstr. 93
CH-8405 Winterthur
+41 52 233 12 54
Fax: +41 52 233 12 57


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:23
                 Distributed: Friday, October 28, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-23-024
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