Archival Tissues and Boxes
If its worth saving, it's worth securing.
A lot of folks are collecting vintage and antique costume and textiles now. They think they're doing their best for their beloved family christening gowns, wedding gowns and samplers by bundling them in whatever boxes and paper they have around and putting them in the attic or basement. Where are they going wrong?
Aside from the fact that basements are usually moist and prone to flooding and mildew, and attics are dry and hot (both are terribly bad for textiles), their first mistake was to wrap their beloved pieces in whatever was lying around. The common misconception is that if the paper is white, the paper is safe. Not so.
The paper that one gets with one's Le Creuset cookware from William Sonoma and one's pillar candles from Pottery Barn is probably not acid-free paper. Those companies are just providing paper to get your object safely from the store to your home, not to secure it for posterity. Paper (and wood) that is not acid-free is likely to leave ugly brown stains or "burns" on your garments and textiles, which will not be removeable (or certainly not easily).
Keep your keepsakes in acid-free boxes and tissues that you know are acid-free. Get them from archival and conservatorial sources. They're not expensive (a package of 50 20"x30" acid-free sheets might be about $10 and a 30"x18"x6" box might run you $26.50) and they're easily obtained via catalog or over the Web.
If you're saving your great-grandmother's wedding gown for your daughter or grandaughter, there's a better chance she'll actually wear it if it's not covered in brown stains or "foxing," or if it's not disintigrating. Proper storage will keep it safe for generations.
Where can I find this?
Talas
http://talasonline.com/
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