Under Construction, August 2011
1. BACKGROUND
The Alaska State Museum has many garments and artifacts made of textile from various periods and cultures over the past few centuries. The Tlingit of Southeast Alaska have woven with mountain goat wool and cedar bark for hundreds of years, if not longer. Some items from the Russian period survive. Military uniforms, various kinds of outdoor gear, quilts, and dolls are common as well.
2. POSSIBLE CAUSES
The most common white stuff we have seen on Alaskan textile or fiber artifacts is insect debris such as cocoons and frass. Casemaking clothes moths and webbing clothes moths are the biggest threat. Mold and lint are two other common possibilities.
3. REFERENCES
4. EXAMPLES IN ALASKA
What's That White Stuff? 