Hi,
I have a ww2 Taylor Bouyancy Flight suit (the yellow, all in-one heavily padded suits worn by bomber crew) which is need of some TLC – if you have restored/conserved this sort of item before any tips will appreciated. Overview of issues…
– some brown poppers missing [ideally i would like to replace with vintage equivalent]
– some oxidation around metal [not sure how to remove]
– fabric in good condition, but v dirty [advised to use lux & dry well]
– some zips stuck/in need of replacing [ideally need some old metal toothed zips and someone v skilled to remove and replace…]
Cheers, Dave
By: Phantom Phil - 12th June 2011 at 17:45
I’m not sure how true this is but it kinda makes sense… The North East Military Vehicle Museum have many items of clothing, some of which are so rare they have cleaned to the best point they can without damaging them and then they vaccum pack them taking out all the air, then put them in the freezer for storage. It apparently sorts out all the unseen bugs that can destroy the fabric!
By: bigdave2 - 12th June 2011 at 12:16
Gents,
Thanks for the advice. ‘Network54’ has yielded some additional useful leads. D
By: FLYING SAUCER - 10th June 2011 at 21:01
The site you mentioned here Michael, I have seen some very good sense talked about in stuff like oxygen mask preservation etc.
I would be most careful actually immersing the suit in any soap or detergent mix, as old cloth may just disintegrate (not always) but risky. Also if you sponge it it may develop rings and tidemark staining.
As for stuck zips, I rub a candle along them, but sometimes they are too badly corroded and will just rip away from the seam. All the Zips and poppers should be kept with the same backstamp if possible.
Think carefully before you commit, and do be careful about moths, as we have had an increase of these little critters!
Good luck with this rare item. Try Hendon, or even The V & A?
By: VACB - 10th June 2011 at 20:38
Hi Dave
You would be better off posting here, it’s an RAF collectors/reenactors forum
http://www.network54.com/Forum/180748/
Cheers
Michael
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June 10, 2011 at 8:29 pm