In a message dated 8/18/03 10:23:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< > From: "Alessandra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon Aug 18, 2003 15:03:42 US/Eastern I have to wash a lace (silk lace) I have to sew on silk for a wedding pillow and I do not know how can I wash it!!!!! the thread was white but by working it became grey, could you help me please? I have no much time: I need it for the 6th September: the date of my friend's wedding >> --------------- In a message dated 8/19/03 10:15:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: <> --- Dear Tamara, This inquiry falls into the category of textile conservation, because something has gone wrong with the thread. I have a book that clearly explains why conservators refuse to answer questions about things they cannot see and question first hand. And, we cannot do that in this case. The book gives the apt comparison of telling someone how to do their own surgery! Professional conservators usually go through a period of at least 3 years' training, often devoted to a single category of object or material, and even then they require further working experience before they can be considered qualified to practice without guidance. I am an amateur conservator, and did not answer this because there are too many variables for me to be of help. I don't know if she is using new or antique threads and from whence they came (Italy?). I do not know if they can be washed. I do not know if they will shrink. (What does the thread manufacturer say?) I do not know if the silk picked up dye from material on her lace pillow or material she was wearing on her person when she made the lace. I do not know if the manufacturer advised dry cleaning the thread. I do not know if she knows what distilled water is, and whether it is available to her, and what it is called in her country. I do not know what safe soaps they have in her country for silk, and what the museum experts in her country advise people to use. I recommend she take her lace to a textile collection curator in her country and ask about the best method for cleaning her lace. In future, if she works with silk threads - she must wash her hands, and rewash her hands every hour if she has a lot of acid in her skin. Perhaps acid from her skin mixed with some other substance (powder or perspiration) and transferred to her lace. Did she use hand cream? That could have made her problem worse, even though she thought she needed it to prevent snagging silk. Once handcream is mixed with perspiration, dirt or dye and transferred into thread, it is nearly impossible to remove it. Your friend would be best-served by local advice, preferably from someone with textile conservation experience appropriate to her location and her piece of lace. Then, she should test the method of cleaning on a similar soiled small piece of lace made from the same thread, before commiting the actual wedding lace. A quick stop-gap solution might be to use a white powder on the lace. Remembering that in earlier centuries a toxic powder was used to whiten laces, I must caution that any powder must be safe to inhale. The ring bearer must not be allergic to the powder, or he will be sneezing during the ceremony. (Ask museum textile curator which powder to use.) The lace must be removed from the pillow right after the wedding, and the powder washed out!! As soon as possible!! Otherwise, powder will create another whole set of problems. For everyone else - general washing instructions for undyed cotton and linen laces are still on the Honiton Lace Shop's website. Jeri - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
