Asking the carpet question again...

I'm looking for advice on the care and preservation of
our historic area rugs.  During our regular house
tours, all visitors are able to walk on at least five
of our historic carpets.  The museum formerly used
clear vinyl runners on the floors to alleviate dirt,
although this was not a solution after the staff
realized that the runners were digging into the
carpets and causing further damage.  The runners were
removed about five years ago, and since then the
museum has done nothing to prevent visitors from
walking on these historic carpets.  The carpets are
slightly worn from their intial useage in the house,m
but remain in fairly good condition.  Other solutions
we've considered have included using mats, asking
visitors to remove their shoes and don surgical
booties, rolling back the carpets partially, etc.,
etc.   

I would appreciate some advice on this problem, as it
seems to be a constant worry for myself and my
colleagues. 

Thank you,

Anne Carlson
Curator
Sam Rayburn House Museum 


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. 
www.yahoo.com 
 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).