Old textiles need extreme care

Old textiles need extreme care

JAKARTA (JP): Puji Josep Subagyo, senior textile conservator
of the National Museum, said that tropical weather conditions are
not conducive to the conservation of old cloth. To store a rare
piece of cloth, it should be kept in an airtight compartment and
wrapped in acid free tissue where no pollution particles or dust
can reach the cloth.

Room temperature should preferably be kept at around 25
degrees Celsius and 45 - 50 percent humidity.

Daily temperatures in Indonesia hover around 29 - 31 degrees
Celsius with humidity of 80 - 95 percent. In less technical
terms, all types of cloth should be air-dry stored and not be
exposed to harsh light.

"Any textile will be ruined if exposed to weather conditions
like ours," said Puji Josep.

Asked if old cloth could be cleaned, the textile conservator
said that, depending on the condition of the cloth, dry cleaning
would be recommended to remove spots. If the cloth is too frail
for this, daubing with a solvent is recommended.

Among the standard cleansers Puji Josep mentioned were alcohol
and acetone. Vinegar is also used, but one should exercise
caution here. The acidity rate of vinegar should not be more than
seven percent, he said.

To remove grease, oil and perspiration, Puji Josep recommended
alkaline pH 6-8.

As to rescuing old cloth from further decline, two methods are
applied at the National Museum in Central Jakarta to deal with
this problem. They are thermo setting and re-weaving. With the
first, a patching technique is applied using a transparent weave.
Reweaving, the second method, is used to restore tapestry but the
method is rarely applied in Indonesia.

-- Claudine Frederick