This is just a quick post to say," I have no idea what is happening here."
I have a stash of beads and sequins from my great grandmother. The stash also contains beads and sequins of newer vintage. I'm not 100% sure of the age of contents of this vial. What I do know, based on the position of the vial in the storage array, is that these sequins were a blue-green turquoise color. How they became zombie sequins, I do not know. And if you open the lid, the acid smell will wake you up, if you aren't alert already.
I've seen this happen to other vials of sequins in my stash. I'm not sure what causes it. Anybody know? Where's a chemist when I need one?
And, yes, the sequins are headed for the trash.
Update: 4 September 2018:
One of my dear friends, Camille, saw this blog post and noticed no one had commented. Her mother has a chemistry degree, so Camille asked her mother if she had any ideas. Here is the response:
This makes me wonder about textile conservation. Is this a process that will happen and can not be stopped? If you keep the sequins in a refrigerator, can you retard the effect? What happens to clothes with sequins on them? If I make some art projects or costumes from video and audio tape, will they degrade too? And considering moths and other hazards, does this mean the ultimate crafter's closet is a walk-in refrigerator?
I have a stash of beads and sequins from my great grandmother. The stash also contains beads and sequins of newer vintage. I'm not 100% sure of the age of contents of this vial. What I do know, based on the position of the vial in the storage array, is that these sequins were a blue-green turquoise color. How they became zombie sequins, I do not know. And if you open the lid, the acid smell will wake you up, if you aren't alert already.
I've seen this happen to other vials of sequins in my stash. I'm not sure what causes it. Anybody know? Where's a chemist when I need one?
And, yes, the sequins are headed for the trash.
Update: 4 September 2018:
One of my dear friends, Camille, saw this blog post and noticed no one had commented. Her mother has a chemistry degree, so Camille asked her mother if she had any ideas. Here is the response:
I do have an idea. The clue is the acid smell. The sequins were probably made from acetate plastic, the same kind of stuff that makes up traditional photographic film. With heat and time the material degrades and gives off acetic acid. So when the acid reacted with the color on the sequins, it turned them blackish.Thank you, Camille and Camille's mom!
This makes me wonder about textile conservation. Is this a process that will happen and can not be stopped? If you keep the sequins in a refrigerator, can you retard the effect? What happens to clothes with sequins on them? If I make some art projects or costumes from video and audio tape, will they degrade too? And considering moths and other hazards, does this mean the ultimate crafter's closet is a walk-in refrigerator?
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