Smolenchuk Elena V. — artist-restorer of fabric works of the 2 category, The State Research Institute for Restoration, junior researcher of the Department of Scientific Restoration of Decorative and Applied Arts
E-mail: lensmol@yandex.ru

Khrebtova Yulia V.  — The State Research Institute for Restoration, Head of the Department of Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art
E-mail: julia_pgr@yahoo.com

The article examines the perspectives of research and restoration of a group of chemical textile materials within the existing disciplinary matrix. Historical textiles of the modern and contemporary periods, made from chemical fibers, have properties that, to varying degrees, differentiate them from natural textile materials of organic origin. They impact their aging processes and lead to a different approach to organizing storage, restoration, and conservation. Within the scope of this article, it is proposed to consider all historical textile materials from the perspective of their basic properties, which determine the fundamental technologies of their production, manufacturing, finishing, and subsequent use. A group of hydrophilic properties, specific to the natural textile materials, is considered as a key to for determining the existing restoration techniques. Hydrophilic properties dictate the reaction to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, which provoke shrinkage processes and primary mechanical wear, and also form the basis for selecting restoration techniques. Based on the hydrophilic properties, attention is focused on two main groups of historical materials that also exhibit different reactions to temperature exposure. This allows to limit the group of hydrophobic textile materials, which require separate work on selecting and justifying restoration methods that go beyond existing approaches. The primary focus is made on the group of hydrophilic, chemically manufactured hydrated cellulose fibers, which are close to natural materials in their properties. Using this type of fiber as an example, the article examines the aspects of the materials' reaction to moisture exposure and the potential for further monitoring and experimentation to select restoration techniques.

Conservation of historical fabrics, historical artificial fibers, historical chemical fibers, historical fabrics, historical hydrated cellulose fibers, historical textile materials, hydrophilic properties of historical materials, research of historical fabrics.