How fast do polyester fabrics age in the museum environment?
Aromatic polyesters were discovered in 1941by chemists of Calico Printers Association (UK) and have been commercially available since 1953. Today polyester fibres are the most widely used man-made fibres. Increasingly, fabrics are given special finishes to have specific properties (e.g. aesthetic appearance, skin-moisturising effect or spill-repellent property); these fabrics are called “techno” fabrics1 .Not surprisingly, polyester fabrics and techno fabrics are entering museum collections at a fast pace. Polyester fabrics appear to be stable but since they have been around for only approximately 50 years, this is still an open question. In particular, the effects of techno pre-treatments, which represent a recent innovation, on the durability of polyester fabrics are unknown.”Smart and Techno Fabrics”, a collaborative project between the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton, aims at investigating the deterioration of polyester fabric
