Decontamination Process

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

When you acquire a new piece, what is your decontamination process for dirt and the fear of moths?

Maybe my process is overkill, but I truest feel you can’t be careful enough.

-New piece doesn’t enter the house.
-slight shaking to remove trapped things like dirt and dust.
-Thorough vacuuming with a small attachment to create more suction.
-Piece is hung and a lawn blower is used inside and out close to the piece to force out dirt and dust.
-vacuuming process repeated.
-piece is then completely sealed in a air tight vacuum bag.
-Vacuum bag is then placed in the freezer for a r least a week.

So far so good and I never had an issue to date. For the extreme dirty pieces, they go off to the rug experts who specializes in old pieces. cleaning.

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

I think you're doing nearly everything that needs to be done, and sealing the piece in an airtight bag isn't necessary. My only suggestions are to be sure the freezer goes below 0 (Fahrenheit) and to put the piece through 2 or 3 freeze-thaw cycles rather than just one. The lethal event in the freezer is intracellular ice crystals forming during the thaw and rupturing the cells.

Steve Price

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Thank you Steve. Great to know.

[PaulSmith Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaulSmith]

Hi Joe,

I think your diligence is exemplary. I generally wash pieces that come in, if they're dirty. I have bought a few things lately that were pristine, and I didn't wash them, though. I do live in a place that gets significantly cold in winter, so moths are not a problem... as long as I don't introduce them. I appreciate the inspiration to be more diligent in the future. Fortunately there seem to be no evil wool-eating critters here, thus far.

Paul

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Thank you Paul. Glad to hear you are critter free. It’s always good to be on top of them. I know of a case of a rare collection being destroyed from lack of diligence.
I did forget to mention I also clean smaller pieces but it’s only if they don’t bleed and if it’s a job I can tackle. For me, it’s a fun process to do.