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**Billy B** · 03-02-2006, 02:26 PM

Originally posted by Adrian Stevenson

You can use a vac cleaner if you are very careful. I have done this in the past. But I once sucked the top off a British button off one of Lez's ATS Officers caps! I had to empty the hoover bag to find it!

Cheers, Ade.

That's why museums vacuum cloth through a mesh.

**CollectRussia** · 03-02-2006, 07:10 PM

Freezing "for a couple of days" kills insects and larvae, but won't kill moth eggs. Feezing for about 3 weeks kills the eggs.

We have a deep freezer in our office expressly for that purpose. Newly arrived cloth goes directly into it for one month.

Moth "alarms" are available from various online sources. They have a sticky pad and an attractant. They only trap female moths, but will alert you to a problem. They're good for about 30 days.

**NavyFCO** · 03-02-2006, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by CollectRussia

Moth "alarms" are available from various online sources. They have a sticky pad and an attractant. They only trap female moths, but will alert you to a problem. They're good for about 30 days.

Oh! I've never heard of those before! Something new on the 'ol shopping list!

Luckily for me I rarely keep uniforms for more than a few weeks so they're constantly moving around and thus keeping the mothra at bay. However, for my more permanent uniforms, I just keep them on the coat forms and check them periodically. I'd love to freezer them, but my wife, while she tolerates me having 100+ uniforms in the basement, wouldn't tolerate me leaving out the family's dinner(s) to thaw in the name of preserving an "old jacket"!

I need to echo the sunlight comment though. I had a glorious office two houses ago, with beautiful windows that overlooked a nicely landscaped yard and all. No direct sunlight and just perfect cheeriness. That cheeriness didn't last long though as I noticed that some of my paper on display was fading! What was really odd was that it didn't appear to be faded, but those pieces that overlapped each other told a different story! The moral to that tale is to keep sunlight at bay as much as possible, as even a small amount of indirect sunlight will still fade things and fade them quickly!

Dave

**TMurray** · 03-30-2006, 11:35 PM

Originally posted by CollectRussia

Freezing "for a couple of days" kills insects and larvae, but won't kill moth eggs. Feezing for about 3 weeks kills the eggs.

We have a deep freezer in our office expressly for that purpose. Newly arrived cloth goes directly into it for one month.

Moth "alarms" are available from various online sources. They have a sticky pad and an attractant. They only trap female moths, but will alert you to a problem. They're good for about 30 days.

Think my missus is gonna get kind of cranky if I stuff the freezer full of tunics for three weeks!

**Jon Fish** · 03-31-2006, 12:50 PM

Would freezing Tunics and defrosting them not cause damage due to the introduction of moisture to parts such as metal collar tab parts and tunic buttons ?

**bnz. 42** · 03-31-2006, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by Jon Fish

Would freezing Tunics and defrosting them not cause damage due to the introduction of moisture to parts such as metal collar tab parts and tunic buttons ?

Jon, just read the prevoius posts in this thread:

Originally posted by blinky

The best way to prepare something cloth for freezing is wrap it in tissue paper, inside and out then put it inside a plastic bag. Try to squeeze out as much air as possible without damaging the tunic then carefully tie off the bag making it air tight. It's best to do this on a dry day, less chance for condensation. Put it in the freezer for a couple of days keeping an eye on it to make sure condensation doesn't form on the inside of the bag. It's hard to avoid all condensation but the tissue should absorb most of it. If you want to be more anal, move it from the freezer to the fridge first for a day to gradually bring the temperature up. From the fridge/freezer let it sit still sealed in the bag until it comes to room temperature then open it. One thing to watch out for are any items on the uniform that might be affected by contracting in the freezer such as painted surfaces....though I've never really seen this as being a problem. For me at least it works like a charm. I've done it with items I knew were infested and afterwards no bugs.

eric

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