Beetles & Dust, Oh My! Vacuuming Historic Garments
May 23rd, 2008 by fashionpodcast
Any museum professional will tell you that if you intend to work with historic garments and textiles, you must love vacuuming. Safely conserving and caring for historic garments and textiles is not like caring for the clothes you wear each day. While you might feel the urge to take that 1906 lingerie dress with stains on the skirt and throw it in the wash — stop!!! Historic garments often do not have the integrity to withstand the agitation of the modern washer and dryer, and bleach — that lovely whitener — can degrade the fibers further as well. So, instead we turn to vacuuming. Vacuuming may not remove all the stains and soils you see on a historic garment, but it will lift any superficial dirt and eggs and leavings of bugs that can damage the garment. More rigorous care is left to professionals who will carefully wet clean the garment. But, that is for another day. Just like laundering, vacuuming historic garments is a whole different ball game from vacuuming your house. Watch the following video to learn more.
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