Collection Care blog

Behind the scenes with our conservators and scientists

06 January 2025

Conservation Treatment and Workshop of oversized textile bunting by Storm Scott

The large leather trunk below (Fig 1) was conserved by Talene Bush, a student from Lincoln University, whilst on her conservation placement at the British Library Centre for Conservation.  

Large leather trunk sits on its bespoke Tyvek® wrapper. It is made from different pieces of leather stitched together which cover a wooden and metal box with metal fastenings and paper labels visible on the front of the case.
Fig 1: Large leather trunk that originally housed Foster 5701 bunting and other textile items

Prior to conservation the trunk had been opened (Fig 2) and its contents were found to be a Union flag, a Taiwanese flag, two US flags, three cloths and a very long section of linen and cotton bunting made up of 83 pennants.

Large leather trunk sits on top Tyvek. A variety of different patterned textile fragments line the inside. The Foster 5701 bunting and a large union flag can be seen crumpled inside the trunk.
Fig 2: Leather trunk opened to show Union flag

 

Before Conservation

Two large piles of flag bunting. Flags made of three sections, one blue, one red, one white. Flags extremely creased. Flags on top a crumpled piece of acid free tissue, on top of a piece of melinex on a conservation bench.
Fig 3: Detail of Foster 5701 bunting showing a tear
Close up of a flag laid on a piece of melinex on top a bench. Top section red, middle section white and bottom section of flag blue with blue and white stitching. Flag very creased and large tear in middle section.
Fig 4: Foster 5701 bunting before conservation

The bunting arrived in the conservation studio covered in dust and dirt with multiple stains and all heavily creased and some with minor tears. 

 

Surface cleaning

One of the pennants laid on top of Melinex® on top of a conservation bench. A piece of netting with a white mount board border is laid on top.
Fig 5: One of the pennants under a mesh screen ready for surface cleaning

The first step of treatment was to surface clean the flags as they were covered in surface and ingrained dirt. The pennants were cleaned using low powered vacuum suction through a fine mesh screen. This had been created out of museum board and conservation grade netting attached to the edge of the board and helped to protect the fragile textile during surface cleaning and prevented the uptake of any loose fibres. The vacuum nozzle was also covered in fine nylon net which trapped dust and dirt removed so that it could be kept for future testing.

Two piles of flags on top of melinex on top of a conservation bench. The flags on the left pile are visibly cleaner and slightly less creased. The flags on the right remain heavily creased and dirty. There is a melinex pocket on top of the left pile that is filled with circular discs of dust and dirt that have been caught in the nozzle of the vacuum.
Fig 6: Two piles of pennants on top of Melinex® before and after surface cleaning

This image above shows the efficacy of this cleaning. The pile on the left has been surface cleaned, the Melinex® pocket on top of the pile shows the amount of dust and dirt that was removed from these flags. The pile on the right is yet to be cleaned. 

 

Humidification

A pile of creased flags sit atop a conservation bench. To the right are two flags each laid out flat on top of the bench under layers of Bondina® and large glass weights. To the right of these are two flags each laid flat on the bench inside a humidification chamber. On the far right is one flag on the bench under layers of Bondina® and large glass weights. Next to this final flag is a conservation trolley which holds a pile of flags that have been humidified.
Fig. 7: Foster 5701 bunting during humidification, farthest flags being humidified, middle flags drying under weights

The next treatment step was to try to remove the heavy creases from the flags so they could be understood and appreciated in their original format, make them easier to store, and would be less likely to incur further damage during long term storage.  In order to remove creases the flags were humidified by placing them in a humidification chamber made from thick plastic sheeting held down with small glass weights to create a sealed chamber. Humidification was introduced to the chamber using a slightly damp muslin, laid on top of a layer of Sympatex®, which was laid on top of each flag. Sympatex®,  is a semi-permeable membrane which enables the gravitational flow of water vapour encouraged by the addition of glass weights. Each pennant was humidified in this way for one hour on each side. After each side was humidified the flag was dried under glass weights to ensure it dried as flat as possible. 

Two connected flags on top of Melinex® on top of a conservation bench. The flag on the right is completely creased and crumpled, the flag on the left is still quite creased but much less so and is lying flat with its triangular shape clearly visible.
Fig 8: Foster 5701 – LHS pennant has been humidified once; RHS pennant has not been humidified
Two flags lay next to each other on top of Melinex®. The flag on the left is heavily creased and is unable to lay flat. The flag, after humidification, on the right still has some visible minor creases but lays completely flat.
Fig 9: Foster 5701 – RHS pennant has been humidified twice; LHS pennant has not been humidified

These two images again show the efficacy of the gentle humidification process / treatment. Fig. 6 shows the comparison between a flag which has not been humidified and a flag that has been humidified on one side. Whilst the humidified flag still has heavy creases, it is now able to lie flat on the table, can be understood and appreciated for its original shape. Fig. 7 shows the comparison between a flag which has not been humidified and one that has been humidified on both sides. This humidified flag still has some visible minor creases but is able to lay completely flat, meaning that when it is stored in a pile with the other humidified flags that the heavier creases won’t be able to set further.   

 

Workshop   

Due to the number of flags and the repetitive nature of the treatment; that the flags are each humidified for the same amount of time in the same way, this project presented a unique opportunity for a textile humidification workshop for the book and paper conservators in the conservation department. Together with the textile conservation intern Gee Roxas  and the textile conservator, Liz Rose, I was able to run a half-day workshop where each participant was able to watch the process, from surface cleaning through to humidification, to see how these processes differ between paper and textile objects, and to then dry clean and humidify a flag for themselves. The workshop was very successful and participants were able to increase their confidence in working with textiles and composite objects.

Multiple pennants lie flat on top of Melinex® on top a conservation bench. Some pennants are covered with Bondina, some with plastic sheeting and some are uncovered. A woman leans over the bench placing a glass weight on top of a layer of bondina covering one of the pennants.
Fig 10: Storm Scott demonstrating humidification process for workshop attendees 
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