Re: Salt and Textiles

Carine,

I assume you have tested the salt and it is NaCl. If you refer to the literature on chlorine it may help. Chlorine is known to react with tyrosine, trypotophan and peptide bonds. The CSIRO literature on wool may be of help in understanding the very complex chemistry of wool.

H2O + NaCl will increase chemical activity (HCl). The moisture in the air in the museum environment would probably provide sufficient moisture.

Take a look at the process in shrink-proofing wool and the effect on the cuticle. With wool removing the effective protein contamination layer and oxidation of the cuticle is much like "removing the oil from your skin" . When the cuticle is damaged barriers are no longer in place. I wrote a thesis on the effects of dichlorvos on wool about 15 years ago (only a small portion of this research was ever printed)

Sharon Hammick Niscak

Carine Gengler <carinegengler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Has anyone ever dealt with the problem of salt on/in textiles?

I am writing my master's thesis on the conservation of the prehistoric textiles found in the saltmines of Hallstatt (Austria). The salt has preserved these textiles (wool) for 1000s of years, but they start suffering as soon as they leave their salty environnement (museum)! Rinsing them with water solves the problem of damages caused by salt chrystallization, but they also loose their protective and conserving salt.

Has anyone any idea on the processes of damages caused by salt on textiles?

Has anyone an idea how the conservation process of salt works on fibres/organic materials?

Any experiences on storing salt-affected textiles?

Carine Gengler

Student in Textile Conservation

University of Applied Arts, Vienna (Austria)

Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! MSN Messenger Download today it's FREE!

[Table of Contents] [Search]

Re: Salt and Textiles

[Subject index] [Index for current month] [Table of Contents] [Search]