True Colours: The effects of detergent use on the historic interpretation, understanding and conservation of museum textiles

V&A博物馆收藏了世界知名的时装和纺织品，其中许多都被污垢掩盖，需要在展出前进行清洁，以使公众能够真正清晰地学习和享受它们。博物馆藏品中的许多纺织品的去污通常采用使用洗涤剂（或表面活性剂）的“湿法清洗”技术，其长期效果目前尚不清楚，并为策展人提出了一个关于何时洗涤是适当和安全的道德困境。因此，V&A和开放大学之间的这个项目将更好地了解博物馆纺织品的清洁效果和改进的清洁过程，这将是实用的，更安全和更便宜的，使纺织品保护专业能够采用。这个研究项目将与2023年V&A服装画廊的重新展示联系起来。服装画廊是博物馆中最受欢迎的画廊之一，它依靠其展示来吸引观众并正确地告知观众。这个项目自然会考虑服装的复杂性，包括它的结构和用于创建一件衣服的材料组合。此外，该项目还将调查V&A和其他收藏服装的博物馆的策展人和保护人员，以确定他们长期护理，解释和展示的目标，并与有效清洁相平衡。这也将与现有学术文献中报道的错误有关。洗涤是清洁纺织品最有效的方法之一，由保护人员开发的方法是特定于该行业的，必须避免任何损坏，如染料损失或收缩。重要的是，该项目探讨了保护洗涤的伦理和道德，因为一件弄脏和有折痕的服装或纺织品可能无法反映其创造者或过去所有者的愿望。与V&A密切合作，研究的初始阶段将侧重于当前的湿法清洁协议（即全沉浸式洗涤和表面清洁技术）。为了更深入地了解这些问题，并为保护行业未来的保护工作提供有益的信息，V&A在纺织品保护方面的成功经验和经验至关重要。为了更好地为策展人关于服装的决策提供信息，保护人员需要更全面地了解湿洗对博物馆纺织品的长期影响。为了促进这一点，将分析洗涤剂对天然纤维模型的影响;在发现残留物的地方，将量化它们对纤维老化的影响。这一主题之前没有任何详细的研究，该项目的结果将因此影响全球的保护治疗。虽然在保护领域的道德清洗以前已经辩论，湿清洗的长期影响仍然相对不足的研究和报告。到目前为止，在这一领域进行的分析研究很少，例如，对挂毯纤维的分析表明，湿法清洗使某些表面活性剂沉积在羊毛纤维的表面上，而且，老化的纤维显示出更高水平的这些残留物，尽管这些特定的表面活性剂不被V&A使用。另一项研究表明，脆弱挂毯上的细小灰尘颗粒阻碍了清洁过程，使染料变色，加速了纤维素部分的降解。该项目将解决清洁对纺织品结构的影响这一重要问题，并将改进V&A纺织品保护工作室的洗涤方法。这反过来又将影响全球纺织品的保护，改善处理方法，并加强全球收藏品的长期护理。这个博士项目将为学生提供优秀的跨学科培训，无论是在保护行业或学术界的职业生涯。

The V&A museum houses world-renowned collections of fashion and textiles, manyof which are masked by soiling and require cleaning prior to display to enable true clarity of their study and enjoyment by the public. The removal of soiling fromthe many textiles in museum collections often employs 'wet cleaning' techniques using detergents (or surfactants), the long-term effect of which is presently unknown and presents an ethical dilemma for curators as to when washing is appropriate and safe. Consequently this project between the V&A and the Open University will evelop a better understanding of the effects of cleaning and improved cleaning process for museum textiles that will be practical, safer and inexpensive, enabling adoption by the textile conservation profession.This research project will be linked to the redisplay of the costume gallery at the V&A in 2023. The costume gallery is one of the most popular in the museum reliant on its presentation to engage and correctly inform the viewer. This project will naturally consider the complexity of costume, both its structure and combination of materials used to create a single garment. Additionally this project will survey both curators and conservators at the V&A and other museums that hold costume collections to identify their objectives for long-term care, interpretation and display in connection with, and balanced against, effective cleaning. This will also be linked to practises reported in the existing academic literature.Washing is one of the most effective ways of cleaning textile, the methods developed by conservators are particular to the profession and must avoid any damage such as loss of dyes or shrinkage. It is important that the project explores both the ethics and practises of conservation washing, as a soiled and creased costume or textile may not reflect the aspirations of either its creator or past owner. Working closely with the V&A, the initial stages of research would focus on current wet cleaning protocols (i.e. full immersive washing and surface cleaning techniques). It is crucial to learn from the V&A's prior knowledge and experience with conserving textiles both successfully and any unexpected challenges, to more deeply understand the issues and beneficially inform future conservation work within the conservation industry.To better inform the decisions made by curators concerning costume, conservators need to more fully understand the long-term consequence of wet cleaning on museum textiles. To facilitate this, the effects of detergents on natural fibre modelswill be analysed; where residues are found their impacts on the aging of fibres will be quantified. This subject has not been researched in any detail before and the outcome of this project will consequently influence conservation treatments globally.Although in the field of conservation the ethics of cleaning has previously been debated, the long-term effects of wet cleaning remain relatively under researched and reported. Very little analytical research has been performed in this area to date, e.g. analysis of tapestry fibres showed that wet cleaning deposited certain surfactants on the surface of the wool fibre.Furthermore, aged fibres displayed greater levels of these residues, although these particular surfactants are not used by the V&A. Another study showed fine dust particles on a fragile tapestry hindered the cleaning process, discoloured dyesand sped up the degradation of the cellulose parts.This project will address the important issue of the effect of cleaning on the structure of textiles and will improve washing methodologies of the V&A textile conservation studio. This in turn will impact globally on the conservation of textiles, improving treatments, and enhancing the long-term care of the collections worldwide. This PhD project will provide the student with excellent interdisciplinary training for a career in either the conservation industry or academia.