Laura Hortz, curator, demonstrates what she says is the stereotypical look of a museum worker. She said the cotton gloves are inexpensive, but they’re some of the most important tools to protect items from hands and the dirt, oils and acids they carry.By Sara StrongThe Rock County Historical Society is proud of its museum, full of local treasures. Adequately caring for those treasures on a shoestring budget, however, poses problems for volunteers. Laura Hortz, curator of the Old Courthouse Museum and Pettigrew Home and Museum in Sioux Falls understands the local museum’s difficulties.Although she now works with a big budget and a staff of 21 employees and extra volunteers, she’s worked in smaller museums and has struggled with the same things that Rock County is.Hortz visited the Rock County Historical Museum and talked about caring for some of its pieces Monday. She said people should apply the same principles to their home collections and antiques.Hortz’s specific job title is Curator of Collections. "When people ask what I do, I say I take care of stuff," she said.Hortz said that on a basic level, simple, good housekeeping is a great place to start for keeping antiques safe and protecting them for the future."Dust is an abrasive, and it scratches things and can change the patina," Hortz said.Dust is actually a draw to unwelcome guests in a museum such as spiders, ants, beetles and other bugs that can damage artifacts. Hortz said that if regular dusting can’t be done, cover the items with cotton sheets and wash those periodically.Hortz said one of the best things to do when actually handling antiques is to wear gloves, especially with paper, metal, textiles or porous materials.Even years after touching items without gloves, fingerprints or patina changes reveal themselves, Hortz said.When considering the storage or display environment, Hortz said stability is key. "They like the same temperature that we do."General ideal conditions are a temperature of 65 degrees and a humidity of 30 to 35 percent, which can be difficult to measure, Hortz said. Generally, people’s own senses will tell them if a room has the correct humidity.Because objects like the same conditions that people do, Hortz said the old standard storage areas of basements and attics should be avoided if at all possible, because of the high heat in attics and humidity in most basements.Tools of the tradeHortz recommends silica packets, which can be purchased through archiving magazines and stores. The silica beads absorb moisture and change colors when they’ve taken in all that they can. The beads can be dried out and reused.Light from the sun and fluorescent lights damages most collectibles and antiques. Hortz said, "People think curators are hermits because we’re always in the dark, but we aren’t, it’s just to protect our things."Light meters can be costly, but filters for windows and light bulbs are available through archiving sources as well. Hortz brought a test strip that indicates if the light in an area is at damaging levels. Key words when purchasing storage containers are acid free and lignin free. Lignin turns to acid in materials. Many products are labeled acid free, but that only means that in the factory where they were made, that they were a neutral pH. That can change over time, so finding a good source and keeping the materials lignin free is necessary. Also, non-bleached materials are preferred.People can store photos in plastic wraps for effective display. Plastics that are called "food grade" or polyethylene are the best. Polyester plastics, for example, are of a lesser grade. Hortz said that scrap-booking stores often sell products with key words "archival quality," but that isn’t always true.Books are best stored on shelves and dusted regularly. Hortz said they are "hardy" and don’t need much extra care.She has a special interest in textiles. She pads hangers in batting and wraps that in non-bleached cotton muslin before hanging clothing on the hanger. Then the entire piece is wrapped in the muslin for safe long-term storage.Artwork is best stored hung on a wall as it was first intended. However, Hortz said, if there isn’t enough wall space for the artwork, the pieces can be propped against a wall as long as they aren’t on the floor. That prevents extra dirt and the possibility of water, in the case of flooding, from touching the artwork.Because wood lets off acid, lining shelves with tin foil puts a barrier between it and antiques on display.Hortz said, "I hope what we’re doing helps people in the future enjoy what we’ve protected."
