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  • 1.  Question about a quilt

    Posted 09-20-2023 08:29
    I have a quick question about a quilt in our collection:

    The quilt was created as a memorial to first responders on 9/11, and we hang it in the museum for a week or so every year. It's a very large quilt, and it hangs on the outside of the spiral ramp in the center of the museum. The ramp allows visitors to walk from the lobby down to the main exhibits, or up to the 2nd floor.

    I was notified one day last week that our maintenance staff had been working on the wall on the inside wall of the ramp, which had suffered some water damage during one of the last few storms here in Los Angeles. Apparently, they chose that day to sand the wall, and white dust had ended up on things on the outside of the wall in that area, including the quilt. The staff person who found it said she had tried to carefully brush off most of the dust. I looked at the quilt while it was still hanging in the museum, and I could still see some white dust, but not a lot, and almost none on the front side.

    The quilt has now been returned to my department. My question is, what should we do now? Should we vaccum it and then pack it away? Should we have it dry cleaned? What do you recommend?

    Thanks so much,

    Margo Gutstein
    Archivist
    Simon Wiesenthal Center
     


  • 2.  RE: Question about a quilt

    Posted 09-20-2023 12:54

    Hi Margo,

    I reached out to a Textile Conservator, Deborah Trupin. Her recommendations for cleaning the quilt were as follows: 

    -- use the upholstery brush of your vacuum cleaner, being sure it is clean before starting.
    -- if your vacuum cleaner has any way to adjust the suction, adjust it to its weakest suction.
    -- use a gentle patting ( up-and-down) motion, rather than brushing the surface.
    -- whether or not to use a mesh between the vacuum brush & the quilt depends on how sturdy the quilt surface is and how weak you can make the suction on your vacuum.  To be safe, secure a piece of net around your brush. You can change the net as it gets dirty.
    The quilt can be carefully cleaned again, as per the above recommendations. Then, either rehoused in a proper acid-free enclosure or rehung. 

    Best wishes,

    Luda

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    Lyudmyla Babadzhanova (she/her/hers)

    Library & Archives Conservator

    Connecting to Collections Care Monitor



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    Lyudmyla Babadzhanova
    Book Conservator
    Center for Jewish History
    Brooklyn NY
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  • 3.  RE: Question about a quilt

    Posted 09-20-2023 12:54

    Hi Margo – Ideally, the front of the quilt would have been vacuumed while it was still hanging on the wall. Then carefully deinstalled (no folding or rolling) to a prepared space on the floor next to the wall so that the back of the quilt would then be vacuumed. In other words, the quilt would have been vacuumed with minimal handling (as any handling would cause the white dust to become further embedded in to the media of the quilt) and no folding over or rolling of the quilt before it is vacuumed.

    So the short answer (ha!) is that the quilt should definitely be vacuumed (using a variable suction canister-style vacuum cleaner with a tulle-covered nozzle) on both sides before it is stored again.  A natural bristle brush may need to be used to softly brush the white dust towards the nozzle.

    Additional questions for you: what is the wall made from, finished with and painted with (and so what is the white dust made of)? How long was the quilt exposed to the white dust?  What media is the quilt made from (i.e. all fibre/thread; fibre content of the fibre/thread components; non-fibre component composition)? How were the media prepared by the artist(s) before, during and after the quilt creation (i.e. fabrics rinsed/washed first before use or not; fire retardant added)? What is the contour of the quilt (is the quilt flat in contour or is it overall (or some of the media) more 3D)?  

    Other cleaning options may be considered after thorough vacuuming of both sides and more information is obtained.



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    Margaret Geiss-Mooney
    Costume/Textile Conservator
    meg@textileconservator.com
    (707) 763-8694
    Springfield, OR
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