Antique Beaded Purse Tips & Facts
Important information you should know concerning the care and maintenance of your treasured Antique Beaded Purse
- GLUE is a four-letter word. Never use glue to attach beads to purses, or to disguise a hole in a purse. Let thread be your glue! Find a way to sew or tack the damaged area into place.
- Purses that look dirty or dull may benefit from a gentle soaking in Woolite and tepid water. Be sure that the threads are sound, not breaking or rotted, and never soak a purse with a German frame. These frames rust in the water and will permanently damage your bag. Be sure that the lining is colofast and will not bleed color into the water and the purse.
- I like to used waxed monocord for most purse repairs. Very fine, thin thread and needles are a must, when working with size 14 or smaller beads. I keep an assortment of size 13, 15, and 16 beading needles on hand, and a variety of thread to make various fringe effects.
- Resist the urge to hang steel and metal beaded bags for display. The weight of the beads causes the brittle threads between rows to break, as the thread weakens over time. Always lay these bags flat and try to avoid using them if possible.
- Unfortunately there are no techniques for cleaning steel and metal beads, except perhaps a light filing with an emery board, to try to remove rust. I avoid buying rusted metal beaded purst for this reason. The purses that have split rows can be repaired, but it is tedious and time-consuming process, and the long-term integrity of the repair is questionable, as a row may continue to split as the repair is made.
