Textile conservator
[2]: 37 In the current professional climate, "funding cuts have led to a reduction in the number of permanent jobs available in textile conservation and a contract culture exists in many museums".
"[2]: x Textile conservators are responsible for condition assessment, treatment, and preventive measures performed on objects to preserve cultural heritage.
[3] Also of note is that textile conservators in museum or private practice, generally, "consult not only their colleagues but every stakeholder involved with the future of the object".
A textile conservator's first task is to write a treatment proposal that includes an examination of the object and condition issues.
As textiles may include additional adornments, such as glass beads or metal fringes, conservators must have a wide knowledge of preservation techniques for all types of media and material.
For treatment, tools can include: sewing supplies, such as needles, pins, thimble, scissors, dress makers tape; various adhesives; tweezers; brushes, "Large, medium, and small, in all kinds of shapes and in all kinds of bristle";[7] irons; steam table; ironing boards; vacuums with a variable, controllable suction like the Nilfisk vacuum cleaner; embroidery frames; wet cleaning supplies; dry cleaning supplies; insect repellents; or materials for restoration, like an aplix, cotton fabric, non-woven interfacing, nylon net or silk crepeline (both of which can be dyed to match the color of the object and used as support),[5] tetex, and velcro.
For storage, equipment can include: acid-free materials, such as tissue paper, tubes, and boxes; and flat storage mats; centerfoam; correx; foamboard/kapaline; etamine; ethafoam; plastazote; active carbon, as powder or on cloth; Art Sorb/ProSorb; Desi Pak; Japanese paper; nylon fishing line; oxygen absorbers or oxygen scavengers; silica gel; or zip-lock bags, sometimes perforated.
[9] Use of computers and digital imaging "enable conservators to illustrate the possible outcomes of treatment proposals and document the condition of an object with more clarity".
[citation needed] Costume conservation of Gone With the Wind (1939) gowns, all designed by Walter Plunkett, in the David O. Selznick archive of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin took place in preparation for temporary exhibition.
