I just want to echo Camille’s point that the best course may be to do nothing until you’ve called in an expert. Take the conservative route, lest you end up with a disentegrating garment like Ed’s example! And this is true for any type of material (textile, paper, photographic, etc.) You can get grant funding for conservation consultations from NEH http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions
Ginny
