righto got a sweet RAF tunic at an auction there at the weekend!all good but the only problem is that there is some crap on the cuffs! iv been told that sponging the dirt of is a option or steaming it then sponging it off!what do you guys think?should that work??any help would be great!
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best way to get cr£p of a tunic?
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Hi, Before you run to a local dry cleaner. There are somethings to concider before you step into their shop with your tunic. Check to see if the cleaners can handle a military artifact. Find out if they can do a spot cleaning before cleaning the whole tunic. Make sure that your tunic can with stand the dry cleaning process. A lot of tunics are not safe to go through their process. We are so eager to get it back in the perfect prestine condition we forget many potential problems. Consider how the stain may reflect the history of the textile. Consider the overall tunics construction.(materials used to make the tunic) are the fabrics colored by dyes? Are the tunic fabric strong. No holes, loose thread, frayed, seamsplits, or poorly mended holes, Will the chemical affect the buttons metal, or bakelite. What is there policy if it is damaged. You might want to consider taking some photos of the affected area discribed above. So if there is any damage to the tunic. Find out from the cleaners if the will clean you tunic by itself . Sometime cleaners load many other items into the machines to save money. Producing a heavy weight on the possible fragile tunic. Some cleaners put up to 50 lbs of cloths in at once. The weight of other items that are in the machine may not rinse out the chemicals well enough. Some time leaving behind toxic chemicals in the tunic. In the drying process of dry cleaning the machine heats up to 160 degrees and spins out the chemical. The cleaning solvent is spun off and dried. (this whole process is almost like our home wash machine but larger) The the item is steamed pressed. Special precautions and handling, as well as modification to this commercial process, are essential for safe cleaning of museum textiles. Hope that this helps! Also call a local museum see if they can recommed a cleaner. Paul
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