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Hi. I am a student at Cardiff University in the UK and I am researching the use of dried herbs as a pest deterrent. Our national museum of folk history currently uses a mixture of lavender, tansy and wormwood as part of their IPM strategy to protect woollen blankets in  17th century thatched cottages. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has experience of using herbs as part of an IPM strategy- how were they used and the outcome- and especially from anyone who has done any field research in this area.

Thank you

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Angela Barber
Masters Student Msc Care of Collections
Cardiff University
Wales
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Dear Angela,

This isn't my area of expertise so I'm reaching out to some colleagues to get more information for you. I'll let you know once I have an answer.

All my best,
Luisa
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor

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Luisa Casella
Photograph Conservator
West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Ithaca NY
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Hello Angela,
There is a group actively researching this very topic! Here is a link to a recent presentation hosted by the UCLA/Getty IDP in Conservation of Cultural Heritage: 
Alternative Paths for Preserving Material Culture and Bio Culture Heritage
Julia M Brennan and Lilian García-Alonso
March 10, 2023

Best,
Nicole

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Nicole Grabow
Director of Preventive Conservation
Midwest Art Conservation Center
Minneapolis MN
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-02-2023 13:13
From: Luisa Casella
Subject: Using dried herbs as a pest deterrent

Dear Angela,

This isn't my area of expertise so I'm reaching out to some colleagues to get more information for you. I'll let you know once I have an answer.

All my best,
Luisa
Connecting to Collections Care Monitor

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Luisa Casella
Photograph Conservator
West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Ithaca NY
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Dear Angela,

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Luisa Casella
Photograph Conservator
West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Ithaca NY
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Thank you Luisa, and everyone for taking the time to reply. It is very much appreciated and very helpful.

Kind regards

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Angela Barber
Masters Student MSc Care of Collections
Cardiff University
Wales
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-03-2023 09:47
From: Luisa Casella
Subject: Using dried herbs as a pest deterrent

Dear Angela,

I consulted with C2CC expert colleagues and received the following feedback:

From Rachael Aarenstein:

- Elizabeth Salmon (esalmon@g.ucla.edu) at the Getty program is researching this topic as part of her dissertation. While this is an interesting avenue of research, I would not advise putting any stock in a mixture of herbs as part of a preventive pest strategy. I think it is more likely that the herbs would lead to more problems than prevention. Regular cleaning and inspection, while time consuming, would be a more effective strategy.

From Jennifer Hain Teper

- I am not personally aware of anybody doing research on this, though I'm glad to hear that some are. I would agree with Rachael that there are likely risks as well as advantages to this strategy and should be approached very cautiously and should not replace the other key elements of IPM such as cleaning, inspection and monitoring.

We hope this is helpful.

All the best,

Luisa

Connecting to Collections Care Monitor

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Luisa Casella
Photograph Conservator
West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Ithaca NY
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I'm not a conservator, but I would caution that are people who are allergic to herbs.  I had a student in a class last semester and she is allergic to lavendar in any form - even the smell of it causes a reaction.  Something to keep in mind.

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Lana Newhart-Kellen
Collections & Facilities Manager
West Lafayette
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As Elizabeth Salmon's doctoral advisor, and a member of Julia Brennan and Lilian Garcia-Alonso's research team, I'd like to add that both research teams evaluate efficacy and safety, as well effective duration (essential oils evaporate), collections safety, and ratio of herbs to collections. Agreed that these herbal deterrents should not replace overall IPM, and I encourage those interested to stay tuned to research findings!

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Ellen Pearlstein
Professor
UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage
Santa Monica CA
(310) 889-8479
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Isabella Rossi did an article that talks about this for Piecework magazine (this is a general audience magazine but the author is a trained conservator). It was called "Moth Myths", it is the most recent issue. She cites one study and the book Chemical Principles of Textile Conservation. She notes there isn't a lot of research on the effectiveness of herbal IPM, but does point out that contact between the plant oils and textiles can cause damage, so the design of their use is very important, and that the plants probably lose their effectiveness pretty quickly (if it is there to begin with.) Climate control, decreasing potential pest access, consistent monitoring, and good housekeeping would probably make a bigger difference, but it sounds like this might be a more open air/living history type setting.

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Alyssa Opishinski
Graduate Student
University of Rhode Island
Kingston RI
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HI

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Angela Barber
Masters Student MSc Care of Collections
Cardiff University
Wales
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