Well, I am not a textiles specialist but as a professional conservator I
would never make a distinction between an object or artifact in a museum
collection and an heirloom that a family owns in terms of advice on care and cleaning.

Often, it is just best to tell people to do nothing and to wait for good
professional advice before acting - especially if the object is relatively stable
and not immediately threatened.

We conservators are constantly inundated by well-meaning folks who seek
"recipes" or tips so they can do the job themselves. I will offer general advice
and will sometimes ask the person for more information and photos to get a bit
more specific with them. But it is usually a bad idea for inexperienced people
with just a little knowledge to go at it on a historic or artistic object.

One of the best stories I ever heard was from a colleague who is a paintings
conservator with a large private practice. She told me that a little old lady
came to her studio one day with a canvas literally in shreds, and wanted to
know if they could restore it because it was a priceless family portrait. My
colleague asked the little old lady what had happened, since the damage looked
very fresh. The lady admitted that a friend had told her that she should clean
her painting, so she had put it in the washing machine and then the dryer!
Needless to say, there was far too little left to restore.

Now I admit that this is an extreme but charming example of what we
conservators often encounter. When people decide to do it themselves and to go get
products from the hardware store they are not only saying something about
professional conservators (yes, we have feelings too!) but also they are very much
making a statement on the value and respect in which they hold that object or
artifact.

I and my colleagues in conservation are really striving to stress preventive
conservation to both institutions and individuals who own collections. Educate
yourselves about this as much as possible and be aggressive about instituting
techniques and policies that maximize preservation and minimize damage. Maybe
it's just something as simple as closing the drapes in an historic house
during peak sunlight hours (read some of the 18th and 19th century housekeeping
manuals - they did this too!). Maybe it's rehousing parts of your collection,
bit by bit, as you can afford it. Maybe it's working on a plan to get your
collections out of the basement and into a safer space with no overhead plumbing or
pipes.

I think that there is a whole universe of ideas and methods one can teach and
share that can go a long ways to preserving collections without getting into
the specific cleaning and repair issues that can often lead some to misfortune.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Artifacts
2930 South Birch Street
Denver, CO  80222
303-300-5257
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