Hi Meg,
I think that a commercial laundy can handle it -- someone you trust to follow your directions. We did this once, successfully I think, working with a local laundry that agreed to do the job (wash, rinse, dry, press) according to our specifications. I think we asked for processing something like this:
1. use only a minimum amount of detergent
2. no bleach or additives
3. no laundry sour (ammonium or sodium silica fluoride) or anything else in the rinse
4. extra rinse to insure detergent removal
5. dry
6. press flat and without distorting the grain. Roll without wrinkles
onto a tube
We did an in house laundering first to estimate shrinkage in order to cut our lengths. We gave the instructions and a piece of the fabric to the laundry so that they could do a test run with a length so they could make a sound estimate. We found out through the test piece that it was necessary to serge the cut edges to prevent ravelling. We did not require deionized water.
Kathy
Kathy Francis
Senior Conservator for Textiles
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
2 Palace Road
Boston MA 02115
Tel. 617-278-5119
Fax 617-278-5167
email kfrancis@xxxxxxxx
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From: M. Geiss-Mooney
Reply To: Textile Conservators
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2002 11:32 AM
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Rinsing of Custom Dyed Fabric
Good day, colleagues! I need your advice and input. I need to have
rinsed about 400 yards of custom dyed cotton fabric (in various lengths)
with warm water (approx. 100 degrees F) with a total of five complete
water changes and then (because it is not permanent press finished or
blended with polyester) have it pressed and then rolled on to an
archival tube. Preferably in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, the
Minneapolis/St. Paul area or the San Francisco Bay area. Is this
something a commercial laundry could handle, with or without
supervision? Would it be impossible to find a firm/person that could
provide this service using deionized water? Any information and advice
is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Meg Geiss-Mooney
Textile/Costume Conservator
here in sunny but still cool northern California