In message <A22D986D76754EBE9E701D763361ECBB@PC>, ann.humphreys
<[email protected]> writes
Does anyone know if starch adversely affects lace?
We had to do an exercise for City & Guilds, using various different
methods of stiffening on cotton and synthetic lace (we used machine made
lace for this!). I repeated the exercise with a group of my students, in
2006, remembering this time to write the date on the piece of paper the
samples were mounted on!
Of the original batch, after about 8-10 years, the synthetic sample
stiffened with a well-known store branded window blind stiffener (they
are now out of business after many years of trading!) had started to go
black in places. The other pieces were all OK.
However, starch is a food for insects, moths, etc, so be careful what
you use it on, and don't put a piece of lace that has been starched away
in storage without washing the starch out first - you don't want to
check it in months to come to find it part eaten!
The dilute PVA (water soluble, not the solvent one) glue method is
reckoned to be the safest, but I learnt from a friend who is into model
railways that you need to add a tiny spot of washing up liquid to
destroy the surface tension, otherwise, as happened with my Rainbow
Choker (which very nearly ended up in the bin, but won a Medal of
Excellence in The Lace Guild's "Myth or Mystery" competition in 2004)
it fills in the holes with a film of dry glue... I ended up using sugar
solution (the age old method!) which stiffened it enough for it to hang
sideways on whilst in the exhibition for three months without the
plaited lace moving out of shape!
Both PVA and sugar solutions can be washed out.
A lot in the choice of stiffener depends on the climate conditions you
live in - so producing and keeping these samples can help you choose
what will stand up to your local conditions, too.
--
Jane Partridge
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