Stainless steel pins rust, brass ones tarnish. Not quite the same. A similar chemical reaction in response to damp but the brass is less "violent".
I was once brought a Honiton pillow with a part worked piece by someone's recently deceased grandmother's work on it. Could I please finish it as a little momento for them!!! The design was a large floral spray, with only one bit done. An assortment of pins had been used - all sizes, all materials, and they'd been in for quite a while. I quickly decided I was unable to match the quality of the work <VBG> and the section that had been done was fine designwise as a stand-alone piece. Also, it was much nicer that it was all Grandma's work. The problem started when I tried to take out the pins. They were all rusted or tarnished according to type. The tarnished brass ones were a bit rough, but by twisting gently to "break the seal" they could fairly easily be withdrawn (usually, but not always,) leaving a green mark on the thread. The rusted steel ones were a far bigger problem as the rust had "eaten" into both the pillow and the lace thread; each pin took a couple of minutes of gentle twisting and wriggling to remove and the mark left on the lace was much more intrusive, with the rust staining and altering the thread. >From having a similar effect when I used a mix of lace and dressmaking pins when I cut out a garment that then sat for a (considerable) time before I made it up, I know that (on some fabrics at least,) the green tarnish marks will wash out in normal laundering. Rust doesn't. I am glad I was taught to only pin in the seam allowance when cutting out. I looked in a couple of my older books and the emphasis is on brass rustless pins - I guess before central heating and especially when gas lighting was used the whole atmosphere would have been much damper in houses. Although I do use heavy steel pins for course lace, I will only do so if the lace is to be on the pillow for a minimum time. Regarding tarnished brass pins - there was a "recipe" given a few months ago for cleaning pins, but it got lost in my delete box so I can't help with this one. But a pin cushion filled with emery powder will polish off any slight roughness and I don't find that dull-coloured pins discolour the lace. Don't be in too much of a hurry to jettison your brass pins, they may be quite easily salvagable if someone can repost the magic recipe. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
