The Do’s and Dont’s of Museum Storage

Little did I know before starting this internship but there is quite a lengthy list of things you should and should not do when storing artifacts in the museum basement. Certain precautions must be made to ensure their reservation. Here are a few “do’s” and “don’ts” that I have used first-hand in my work:

Do use buffered or unbuffered acid-free tissue paper

Do use specialty glue and paper tags

Do lay garments flat

Do put tissue paper around each item if there are multiple in a box

Do stuff paper in shoes, hats, sleeves and pant legs of garment pieces

Do store pieces in a controlled environment with limited exposure to draft, wind, sun etc. - remember “cold, dark, dry!”

 

Don’t hang garments on hangers

Don’t place artifacts in storage containers other than the acid-free museum boxes

Don’t handle any pieces without wearing gloves - oils from your skin can ruin artifacts

Don’t sew a label in a visible place, try to conceal it 
Don't put boxes on the floor, store them on a shelving unit

Don’t do anything that is not reversible