Storage and Displayof Cloth Insignia

[Bill A]

Cloth has many different considerations when being preserved and displayed. What are some of the display methods that Forum members use for their cloth accumulations?

[ledfut]

I display my cloth insignia (together with the corresponding badges) in mini shadowbox frames I found at Michael's. For the backing material, I cut out pieces from an old torn pair of BD trousers. I searched around and found the lightest 2-sided scotch tape I could to mount the cloth onto the backing. The tape holds just enough and is not tacky at all leaving absolutely no residue. I check the cloth and retape every 6 months or so. Keep in mind - cloth insignia makes up only a small portion of my collection and none of what I have is ultra colletible. The nice thing with the shadow boxes is that the cloth and badges are behind glass and protected to a certain degree from the elements. And it makes for a nice little display that fits nicely on a shelf with some of my books and other militaria.

[jubilationtcornpone]

Bill,

Years ago I started a collection of US Army cloth insignia. Many of these are sewn onto an OD green army blanket which, if I can again find wall space, can hang from a curtain rod. I do have some cloth insignia which I will not do this with. These will wind up in a display case and will be grouped by type and/or function. The insignia on my blanket are in no particular order. They were just put. Confusing if you don't know what they are, but I think it is attractive.

I have heard of people gluing patches in a binder and have seen examples of patches which look to have been removed from a page with pieces of the paper still attached.

Don

[GregN]

Hi Bill, I put mine in a Richer mount (shadow box) but it's just for visible storage. The large frame of stuff my dad picked up to the D-Day Dodgers has each shoulder flash mounted with a museum certified sticky tab. The tabs peel off the fabric and background mat without leaving a glue residue. This stuff is pretty cool but expensive. I looked in my latest issue of the Carr McLean catalog www.carrmclean.ca and the product is called Bienfang RagMount Adhesive. It is not cheap.

Greg

[edstorey]

I keep mine in bags and boxes strewn about the house and squirrelled away in any place they will fit.....

[David Tremain]

I haven't got around to mounting and displaying mine yet, and keep them in plastic boxes. I intend to mount them onto a suitable cotton cloth, probably stitching them very lightly in a few places. After all, they were meant to be sewn on uniforms in the first place.

I would caution against using any adhesive tapes (even so-called "museum quality") as over time the adhesive can migrate through the cloth and stain it. When I worked in museum conservation, during an adhesive tape project we found that some manufacturers had changed the formula of the adhesive and that it was of an inferior quality. You wouldn't know that, of course, just by buying the tape.

If you display any badges made of silver (I know we're primarily talking about cloth ones here, but I thought it best to mention it anyway), avoid using felt as some of it may have been processed using sulphur compounds. This will cause the silver to tarnish (blacken).

If you store them in plastic boxes, make sure they are made of polyester or polypropylene (usually says somewhere on the box) as anything made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tends to be less stable and breaks down over time, leaching out chlorides into the cloth, which can harm it. I've also noticed that after a couple of years as they plastic breaks down it becomes sticky.

If you display them in frames or shadow boxes on a wall, those with sensitive dyes, such as anything red, will fade. Ideally, the glazing material should be UV-filtering glass or Plexiglas (Perspex), but this is more expensive than regular glass. It is obtainable from reputable framers.

Storage/display materials and containers can be obtained from companies such as Carr Maclean or Conservation Resources (USA and UK).

That's my advice, from someone who spent close to forty years in the museum conservation business. David

[Raymond Gilbert]

David: I wondered what you thought of the stickers used to put photographs in albums. The ones I use are about 1 cm wide and 1 1/2 long. These have a paper covering that you remove on both sides. They are sold as archival quality, and will not harm your photographs according to the box.

James

[CftD]

I keep my cloth in a binder normally used for medals - clear plastic slots, 6 to a page, with holes punched to allow easy insertion and removal. Each cloth item is in a clear medal envelope and the envelope slotted into its place on the page. The envelopes will take a pair of standard shoulder titles or a divisional sign or a slip-on. The medal envelope and outer page slot keep the cloth dust free and the nature of the thing also keeps everything flat. David

[David Tremain]

James, I think I know the ones you mean. There are a number of different "archival" ones available. All I'm saying is, just be aware that all adhesives are not made equal, and some change over time. If you see signs of any discolouration (yellowing), take them off. The other thing about any pressure-sensitive adhesive is that it can dry out over time and what you have attached to it may fall off (just like Scotch Tape/Sellotape does). David

[barriefield-brian]

I have been using two- way tape for a few years now. The only problem I have encountered is the newer patches with the "plastic" back do not stick well and ocassionaly fall off. Am considering stiching them to a scrap of cloth which should overcome this problem. Cheers Brian

[tedwardland]

I bought these display cabinets for 5 English and place them on a card table. I also cut out some mount board card to lay the titles etc on top of.

[CftD]

You can do far worse than buy shallow glass-topped trays with foam inserts from Peter Scott at the Just-in-Case Company. Prices (for what you get) are very reasonable and there are sizes to suit every need. David