It's quite amazing that all these topics can be related in one horrific
tale.  I worked in a museum where a volunteer "conservator" had offered to
do some work on our collection of historic costumes.  Having no reason to
doubt her credentials, she was given the task of preparing several dresses
for display.  To our horror, she took a c1910 wedding dress and wet-cleaned
it - in a large capacity washing machine at the local laundromat!  When the
lace overskirt had fallen to shreds under it's own weight, she "restored"
it by gluing the edges of the holes together with white glue!

At this point we discovered that her conservation training was self-taught,
and she fancied herself a textile expert because she knew how to sew.  It
was decided at this point to terminate her relationship with the museum,
but she proved to be emotionally unstable, and would continually show up at
the museum, ready for work, long after she was informed that her services
were no longer required.  Several disturbing telephone conversations with
our Director later, she finally got the message.

The morals of this tale:

1. Don't wet-clean anything unless you absolutely have to;
2. Check out the credentials of the people you have working in your museum
(if their price seems too good to be true, it is);
3. Have some sort of contract or agreement prepared so that you have an
option to terminate volunteers or temporary staff who perform
unsatisfactorily.

Alex Avdichuk
[log in to unmask]