Cleaning Rollsigns

ted_roy · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm

All,

I have just purchased a vintage rollsign from the Worcester Consolidated Street Railway. I was frayed a long one edge, starting to separate from the roll on one end, and is mildewed and dirty. What is the best method for cleaning and "fixing" the fabric? My wife is highly allergic to mold and cannot be in the same room with it, and I would like to display it.

Ideas?

Thank you all for your help in advance,

Ted Roy

Andy Nold · **Joined:** Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:45 pm **Posts:** 297

I think I would try to figure out what material the roll sign is made out of and then search the internet to find examples of how to clean that type of material. I assume it is some kind of linen or paper backed linen. Once you find a website that describes a good process, I would then try the procedure on a little spot of the tail end or start of the roll sign, let the results dry for 24 hours and see of you get any spotting or deterioration.

ted_roy · **Posted:** Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:35 am

Andy,

How to you tell what the material is? It feels like a stiff screen printed canvas, but I am not sure. Ideas?

Thank you for you help in advance,

Ted.

Andy Nold · **Joined:** Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:45 pm **Posts:** 297

I dunno. It seems to me that canvas is cotton and linen is flax, and I don't know if you treat them the same. If you google "rollsign material", there is a website that says most older rollsigns are made of linen. Is yours linen? I have no clue. Maybe you should look for a large local museum that has a textile archivist/preservationist. I remember going to a ARM seminar at the California State Railroad Museum

I would suggest you get your Google going. There are numerous websites with loads of advice. Again, pick one that looks sensible and try it on a hidden area. You obviously aren't going to be sticking the thing in the washing machine. If it tells you to soak something in something, I would consider using a spray bottle and lightly misting the sign instead of soaking it. Not sure what environment you live in, but just getting it dryed out would be a great start to stopping the growth of mildew. Just remember that the same things that kill mildew, like the UV light in sunlight, can affect the paint/ink.

Get your microscope out if you want to identify the textile:

Quote:

The textile materials encountered most often in archaeological sites are linen, cotton, wool, and silk. Linen is a spun and woven vegetable-based fiber derived from flax stalks and branches. Linen fibers lie close together and are durable. They withstand moderate alkaline conditions because of their cellulose content, but are readily affected by acids. Moisture easily passes through the fibers of linen, causing the material to undergo dimensional and weight changes as well as changes in the overall strength. Linen does not take dye well and is usually left in a bleached or unbleached white state.

Quote:

Cotton is a vegetable fiber derived from lint on the cotton seed. It can survive in moderate alkaline conditions but is adversely affected by acids. Cotton does not transmit moisture like linen and is very absorbent in its processed state. It is this characteristic which allows cotton to take dyes well. Cotton has a very characteristic clockwise twist; for this reason, it is commonly spun in a 'Z' twist.