Hello Joanne,

I have examined notes  that belonged to a family of dyers and textile-printers in northern Germany. One of them mentioned finishing silk fabrics with Traganth (Tragant), which gave them a shiny surface.
It is a gum that is collected from several plants belonging to the Astragalus family, Astragalus gummifer L., for example. He used it during the second half of the 19th century.

Greetings from Hamburg!


Dominique Loeding



Altonaer Museum
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Altonaer Museum
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Dominique Loeding
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Von: Textile Conservators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Im Auftrag von Joanne Hackett
Gesendet: Montag, 6. März 2017 19:16
An: [log in to unmask]
Betreff: Coatings on fabrics - literature?

Hello all,
Recently we have encountered two dresses with very heavily coated silk organza – both have yellowed and have heavy staining.  Nothing we tried made any impression on the staining, which I assume to be thoroughly trapped in the finish/coating on the silk.  (Neither dress could be washed due to fugitive decorations.)  Does anyone know of any research that’s been done on the history of textile finishing?  I’m particularly interested in 20th century finishing but anything would be of interest.  Is organza usually finished with starch?  Or is it a gum/starch mixture or something else entirely?

All suggestions welcome.

Joanne Hackett ACR
Head of Textile and Fashion Conservation
Victoria and Albert Museum


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