Human hair wigs

I am looking for suggestions, tips or tricks on how to clean real
hair wigs. They are between 50 and 150 years old and are removable
wigs belonging to some Catholic devotional art.  They have just come
into the collection and are being prepared for exhibit.

There are three small wigs made from human hair.  Two are held
together by stitching through the hair and the third has a woven
cotton fabric cap to which the hair is secured.  The hair is dry,
but not brittle.  It is slightly to highly tangled, but not
matted/felted as far as I can tell.  They were previously displayed
in the open in an old building and have a lot of dust and building
debris in them.  I do not know if they have ever been previously
treated with any kind of hair care products or colorants.

Rebecca Tinkham
Associate Conservator
DCA/MRD
Conservation Department
725 Camino Lejo
Santa Fe, NM  87505


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:54
                  Distributed: Friday, April 11, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-54-018
                                  ***