The effects of visitor activity on dust in historic collections

Abstract

Dust poses a risk to objects on open display, spoiling their appearance and necessitating cleaning. Over time deposits become more difficult to remove, risking damage to vulnerable substrates. An understanding of the sources and distribution of dust is needed to determine housekeeping resources and optimum intervals for cleaning. Dust particles were collected and analysed in four historic properties with a range of access arrangements. Results indicated that coarse particles at floor level rarely rise above 30 cm. Most of the dust on surfaces between waist and shoulder height consisted of fibres from visitors' clothing. The rate of coverage halved with every 50-cm distance between visitors and objects. Human activity produced higher levels of dust, for example visitor routes with multiple turns, and proximity of staff and interpreters to objects. To reduce deposition, fragile objects can be positioned further from visitors or given traditional covers. Thanks to a grant from the Leverhulme Trust, the mechanisms that attach dust to surfaces are now being studied, together with staff and visitor perceptions of dustiness.

Designing an Exhibition to Minimise Risks to Costume on Open Display

“…The larger particles appear to come mainly from visitors' clothing and are found at highest levels in the areas of a gallery adjacent to the routes that visitors use, peaking around the entrance area of a given space. Dust levels fall off as the distance increases between visitor and object, falling by 50 percent with every metre (Lloyd et al 2002). Dust from floor level, brought in on shoes, seems to be re-deposited at up to 30cm from the floor, but very little above this height.…”

“…Dust from floor level, brought in on shoes, seems to be re-deposited at up to 30cm from the floor, but very little above this height. There are also increased levels of dust found at a height of between 80-150 cm, probably caused from friction detaching fibres from visitors' clothing (Yoon and Brimblecombe 2000a;Lloyd et al 2002).…”

“…Significantly, the cleaning regimes roughly mirrored those of institutions such as the National Trust, who deal with textile items on display in historic houses. There, floors are cleaned daily when properties are open to the public and less accessible fragile objects are inspected only on an annual basis and cleaned if necessary (Lloyd et al, 2002). Since most properties are closed over the winter months, the frequency of cleaning is similar to that of The London Look.…”

Dust detection and analysis in museum environment based on pattern recognition

“…The amount of particulate in the museum environment is also different from hour to hour: it is significantly higher during the opening time, also thanks to the air conditioning system and cleaning activities (especially if they are done with domestic methods, such as vacuum cleaner or broom), and lower during night hours thanks to the sedimentation process forced by gravity. Visitors are one of the principal causes of the dust presence in museum environments, because of the contribution provided by their shoes, their clothes and the eventual biological impact due to skin fragments, hair and so on [18].…”

A New Dusts Sensor for Cultural Heritage Applications Based on Image Processing

“…In particular, one of the leading causes of dust in indoor public spaces, such as museums, concerns the visitors. They can provide dust contributions through their shoes, their clothing and their bodies [16]. These contributions rely mainly on coarse particles (mostly transported from the outside) and fibres (principally generated from clothing).…”