Re: Corrosion of fabric covered buttons

[Amann conservation <studio@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,
I have removed rust stains from linen/cotton blend fabric, ivory colored,
with tri-ammonium citrate and sodium dithionite in gel, followed by copious
rinsing with water. I got great info from Christina Margariti and Jenny
Potter from their MA dissertations in the UK, via Lynda Hillyer at the V&A.
Season Tse at CCI gave me lots of really helpful feedback on my tests, she
is brilliant! I had done some tests also with ETDA and sodium Dithionite in
gel from Deborah Bede's article on her work on the Wright brothers plane,
which didn't work as well for me, but her article was really valuable for
the whole process of working with the reagents in gel.  All that being said,
bleaching of the fabric could be the problem with some of these
combinations, and you would really need to test concentrations. I can dig up
my notes if that would be helpful.

Carol Kropnick
Amann Conservation 

-----Original Message-----
From: Textile Conservators [mailto:TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Tracey Wedge
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 3:31 PM
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Corrosion of fabric covered buttons


I am dealing with a number of garments that have been in a flood.  Two are
from the 1930's and are viscose with numerous fabric covered buttons.  The
iron in the button core has corroded staining the covering fabric and the
garments.  I have been unable to find any references regarding the reduction
of iron corrosion on these types of buttons.  Any suggestions? Thanks Tracey
Wedge Textile Conservator