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

V&A博物馆收藏着世界知名的时装和纺织品藏品，其中许多藏品都被污染了，在展出前需要清洗，以使公众能够真正清晰地研究和欣赏它们。博物馆藏品中许多纺织品的污垢清除通常采用使用洗涤剂（或表面活性剂）的“湿式清洁”技术，其长期效果目前尚不清楚，并且给策展人带来了一个道德困境，即何时清洗是合适和安全的。因此，维多利亚与阿尔伯特博物馆和开放大学之间的这个项目将更好地了解清洁的效果，并改进博物馆纺织品的清洁过程，使其实用、安全、廉价，使纺织品保护专业能够采用。该研究项目将与2023年V&A博物馆服装展厅的重新展示相关联。服装展厅是博物馆中最受欢迎的展厅之一，它的展示方式吸引并正确地告知观众。这个项目自然会考虑服装的复杂性，无论是它的结构还是用于制作一件服装的材料组合。此外，该项目将调查V&A和其他拥有服装收藏的博物馆的策展人和管理员，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实践联系起来。洗涤是清洁纺织品最有效的方法之一，维修人员开发的方法是针对该行业的，必须避免任何损害，如失去染料或收缩。重要的是，该项目探索了保护洗涤的道德和实践，因为肮脏和皱褶的服装或纺织品可能无法反映其创造者或过去主人的愿望。与V&A博物馆密切合作，研究的初始阶段将侧重于当前的湿式清洁协议（即完全沉浸式洗涤和表面清洁技术）。从V&A博物馆之前的知识和经验中学习纺织品保护的成功和任何意想不到的挑战是至关重要的，以更深入地了解问题，并为保护行业未来的保护工作提供有益的信息。为了更好地告知策展人有关服装的决定，文物保护人员需要更充分地了解湿法清洗博物馆纺织品的长期后果。为此，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，它们对纤维老化的影响将被量化。这一课题在此之前还没有进行过详细的研究，因此该项目的结果将影响全球的保护措施。虽然在保护领域，清洁的道德规范以前一直有争议，但湿法清洁的长期影响仍然相对较少的研究和报道。迄今为止，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，湿清洗会在羊毛纤维表面沉积某些表面活性剂。此外，老化的纤维显示出更高水平的这些残留物，尽管这些特殊的表面活性剂不被V&A使用。另一项研究表明，易碎挂毯上的细尘颗粒会阻碍清洁过程，使染料变色，并加速纤维素部分的降解。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。这反过来将影响全球纺织品的保护，改善处理，并加强全球收藏的长期护理。这个博士项目将为学生在保护行业或学术界的职业生涯提供优秀的跨学科培训。

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.