Re: Dye for support fabrics/reactive dyes

[Janet Farnsworth <janet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Meg-

Yes I am sorry that I did not mention the Ciba-Geigy documents
publication date, that was because being for internal Ciba-Geigy use
they did not have dates. They seemed fairly recent in 1995.

It seems to me that if reactively dyed fabrics could deteriorate in
storage they were highly likely to deteriorate during the twenty or
thirty years that you might expect a conservation treatment to last; I
do not think that large towns are noticeably less polluted now than in
1995. I am not sure that zeolites will act as scavengers for hydrogen
chloride; activated charcoal will, but so will most fibre polymers and
the dye will be in closer contact with the fibres than with activated
charcoal.

Nothing was said in the documents about acid hydrolysis being the result
of improper dyeing techniques. I think that there are analogies with
weighted silk but that they are not very strong.

On the subject of Health and Safety, most of the dyes I have ever used
have been no more than respiratory sensitisers, but the nuisance of
multicoloured hands should not be underestimated!


In message <3C8D8C50.6C7D40B8@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, M. Geiss-Mooney
<mgmooney@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
>Thanks for the reference, Janet. In re-reading your note in the
>Conservation News (November 1995, Issue 58, page 60-61), I see that your
>fuller quote from the Ciba-Geigy information booklet "Reactive Dyes
>Basic Principles" was: "dyeings stored for prolonged periods in the
>polluted atmosphere of a large town for example... can be subject to
>acid hydrolysis". Unfortunately, you don't mention the booklet's
>publication date but I guess we can only hope that the atmosphere in a
>storage area of a historical society, museum, collector, dealer, etc. is
>a lot less polluted now than a large town at that point in time. And
>that products that act as scavengers (containing zeolites and/or
>activated charcoal) are now readily available for storing acidic
>textiles. Proper dyeing procedures are readily available from dye
>retailers/wholesalers and d-i-y publications and of course must be
>rigorously followed with the most up-to-date health and safety
>procedures in place for all aspects (including disposal of spent
>dyebaths).
>Regards,
>Meg Geiss-Mooney
>Textile/Costume Conservator
>in northern California where Spring is starting to spring 
>