collection care

Most Armenian needlelace can be easily and safely washed before storing. This is especially important if the objects have been used. Food stains and the oils from our hands can degrade the fiber over time.

An excellent article published by the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia) gives clear instructions on how to wash delicate heirloom textiles.

Traditionally, some needlelace has been treated with starch. We do not recommend doing so for long-term storage.

To protect your collection in perpetuity, taking photographs of each piece and creating a database is an excellent way to build an inventory and notate important information.

Photographing textiles can be challenging, but here are some tips that can yield excellent results.

1) Secure a large piece of black velvet. Make sure the velvet is free of wrinkles (always iron on the backside) and pieces of fluff.

2) Lay out the fabric on a flat surface and place your needlelace in the middle area. Make sure the needlelace is face up.

3) Take photos in diffused daylight with no shafts of light or shadows from your camera. You may have to try different placements of the velvet to get the right lighting. 

4) Take photos with all edges of the needlelace showing and at least one close up. An iphone camera is sufficiently sensitive to take detailed shots, but make sure it is focused properly.

5) Photos can be cropped and color manipulated to create perfect photos. In particular, it is useful to increase the “black point” function to eliminate tiny flaws in the background and deepen the background to a solid black.

Many families keep their textile heirlooms in cardboard boxes or plastic bags and bins. This is sufficient in the short term to protect delicate items from dust.

However, for long-term preservation, textiles should be stored in pH-neutral, acid-free tissue paper and boxes to prevent or reduce discoloration. An alternative is to wrap textiles in unbleached and unsized 100% cotton muslin fabric. These materials can be purchased at several online archival supply storys such as Talas or Gaylord.

Cotton, the most common thread used in needlelace, is a natural fiber and subject to decomposition based on environmental factors conducive to microbial growth such as humidity and temperature. It is therefore important to store textiles in a moisture-free environment whenever possible. For instance, top shelves of closets are typically drier than basements and better suited to optimal conservation in the home environment.

Needlelace pieces are technically and aesthetically important, but the stories that they tell are perhaps the most meaningful. Often the provenance is unknown, while other pieces might be accompanied with oral histories or written notes.

We recommend creating a database with images of each piece. We advise you to note any information that you might have or can make an educated guess about. 

1) Name of maker

2) Place created

3) Date or approximate date (could be as general as “early twentieth century”)

4) Any details or stories about the piece or the maker

For the sake of accuracy it is helpful to note which points are factual and which are suppositions.