[Nhcoll-l] preventing and treating mold in basketry and similar woven materials

[Robert Waller]

Hi James,

Mold growth at any given temperature requires a combination of high RH and time at the elevated RH.

A convenient source for estimating the RH x time boundaries at about room temperature is in Stefan’s web page on Incorrect Relative Humidity as an Agent at: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cci-2Dicc.gc.ca_resources-2Dressources_agentsofdeterioration-2Dagentsdedeterioration_chap10-2Deng.aspx&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=4yfc1mUVfSGbHR40pIgf41zrF2NHR6zNEBNDso2YVEE&s=e4pTnetq3lioAUTFOu26FNKlbIp_1-0QW3VZNCgG8VA&e=  

 

There you will see the time required for mold growth at these RH conditions can be estimated as:


% RH

Days 


90

3


80

10


75

30


70

100

 

Remember the importance of guarding against temperature gradients or sources of moisture like damp walls, both of which can cause locally higher RH levels in collection materials than are measured in the middle of a room.

 

Best,

Rob

 

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Bryant, James
Sent: September-10-15 3:08 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Cc: Milanovich, Sean <SMilanovich at riversideca.gov>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] preventing and treating mold in basketry and similar woven materials

 

With a fairly large collection of historic basketry woven of plant materials, we are concerned that we are able to maintain the right environment to discourage mold occurrences (especially on baskets with past use in food gathering and prep), and also prevent the dispersal of mold between objects. Are there published standards for this sort of preventative conservation? Even though we are in an area (typically) known for low, year-round humidity, with the prospect of an extended El Nino wet season ahead, we’d like to know we’re doing all we can to inhibit mold. Any suggestions or comments from subscribers would be much appreciated.

 

James M. Bryant

Curator of Natural History

Museum Depart., City of Riverside

3580 Mission Inn Avenue

Riverside, CA 92501

TEL: 951-826-5273

FAX: 951-369-4970

 <mailto:jbryant at riversideca.gov> jbryant at riversideca.gov 

i
 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__BlueRiverside.com&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=ImzxI3BtL7NdTInghf2p__NgDJwdH-ldt1BflcPNp8c&s=IIB7Hiji-65xE8JCRPyQPDaV2R7xAG5u1dbPMOCasng&e=> 

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