In looking at the June 22nd Ebay Alerts by Laurie Waters of Lace News, it was disappointing to see that one very fine lace was badly yellowed. We can never know the history of old laces that come out of storage and into the marketplace, so we do not know how such a thing happens. Was it deliberately dyed yellow? If not..... It seems a good time to remind everyone, especially June brides and mothers of babies just Christened, that plastic should not be used to wrap fine textiles. All fabrics will absorb off-gased fumes from plastic, but you will find that it shows up on white, ivory, and cream textiles the most. Further, plastic electro-statically draws dust and household fumes (as from smoking and cooking) to it. These creep beneath plastic, next to the garment. A large tatted bedspread and two pillow covers joined my lace collection years ago. They were originally from an estate auction and belonged to a woman who bought them from a convent. Originally a cream color, they were uniformly yellowed, and encased in a disintegrating dry cleaner's plastic bag. This set has been kept in my collection as a teaching example. It is segregated from other laces. It is not of sentimental or financial value. I have no idea how the yellowing can be safely removed. Being tatted, it has many picots. And a thick fringe. Wet cleaning will likely cause picots to close up and the appearance of the fringe to suffer. The size of the bedspread is such that it exceeds reasonable drying surfaces. It could be sewn to a sheet for wet cleaning, with every picot basted in an open position, but what if there is shrinking? Would the yellowing be evenly removed? Would it be removed at all? It remains a teaching example. If you have hung nice clothes in dry cleaning bags, any printing may also transfer to a garment. Think about making some bags of fabric. This is what my great grandaunt did for her 1870's two-piece black silk and lace gowns many years ago. Most of the year, they were in a trunk. In Summer, they aired, by being hung on hangers inside her cloth covers in a closet. (No time? Drape a sheet over the hanging bar and down over the garments that need protection.) Garments must be strong enough to be hung, as gravity pull on shoulder seams is not appropriate. Her gowns were in two pieces, and she put large loops in the waistbands of skirts for hanging on early 20th C. hangers. (Earlier in time, there were hooks attached to shallow closet walls. Clothes were hung from these, or put in trunks.) You must put a barrier, like acid-free tissue, on wooden hangers so acid burn from them will not discolor and weaken heirloom clothing. Do not use wire hangers. Storage archival boxes are expensive. If you are in a guild of like-minded members and can place a group order, you can take advantage of saving on prices quoted for a larger order. Boxes are shipped flat and are heavy. Try to buy the longest boxes you can accommodate in your home for clothing and large laces, to reduce the number of folds. Shallow boxes will limit the number of items in a box, and put less weight on garments at the bottom, resulting in less creasing. Store colored and black garments in different boxes from the ones containing whites and creams. No cellars. No attics. The Costume Society of America provided this resource: _www.gaylord.com_ (http://www.gaylord.com) Archival is the left-most selection on the orange band on the first page. Pointed hand on that and the Archival Storage Boxes selection appears right below it. You will be surprised at the variety of sizes and shapes available. Not in the U.S.? Now that you know what they are, ask a trusted museum curator in your country for a supplier near you with a web site, so you can gather more information. Is this information useful to you? Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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