Collecting vintage sporting patches occupies a relatively small corner of the entire market for sports memorabilia.
We restored a sporting patch that was in relatively poor condition: the fabric was fragile and exhibited rust, grease stains and yellowing associated with poor storage over the years.
In this blog post, we illustrate the results that can be obtained through professional restoration.
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Many collectors of sports memorabilia own textile-based memorabilia — jerseys, jackets, shorts, robes, sporting patches and the like. Typically, they’ll display these textile-based memorabilia in display boxes.
For the most part, these displays are esthetically-pleasing. In other words, they look good.
The problem is that, despite all your best intentions, these artifacts may be deteriorating (and losing value) with each passing month.
That’s because of factors such as exposure to natural or artificial light, physical contact with acidic woods or plastics used in the construction of these display boxes, proximity contact to acids that off-gas from these woods and plastics over time, lack of air circulation, and the like.
In this blog post, we highlight the destructive nature of mounting textile-based sports memorabilia — such as a signed Muhammad Ali robe — in a display box that’s not archival using mounting techniques that are not archival. We further explore the results that might be achievable through professional restoration.
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Ron Davis is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for 5 different teams from 1978 to 1988.
In 2011, Davis discovered that rats had eaten through his 30 year old equipment bag and had nested amongst the 3 MLB jackets in the bag.
This blog post focuses on the transformation of these heavily-stained jackets and 1 equipment bag.
Enjoy the game. Oops, I mean enjoy the transformation.
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Cleaning and restoring military memorabilia requires the application of skill, judgement and process.
In 2011, RAVE FabriCARE was entrusted to restore Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s white summer uniform to as close to original condition as possible. In the photo accompanying this blog post, Fleet Admiral Nimitz is wearing that summer uniform. In the photo, President Roosevelt and General McArthur are seated to his left.
This blog post demonstrates how the application of skill, judgement and process can transform the condition of a military uniform from poor to extraordinary.
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