Dry rot?

[Vintagiality]

Hi all,

Two quick questions. I just got a large lot of various vintage pieces at an estate sale and tossed all in a large trash bag to get them home. Each garment was stored in a separate plastic garment bag. When I started taking them out I realized that one suede coat and one suede purse had dry rot. I sadly think there is no comping back to life for these even though they look beautiful. However, I am confused about a third one that I thought to be polyester or a blend. It has a very strong odor and fine powder coming off of it that’s just like dry rot. It made me cough really bad just handling it. I thought only natural fibers can get dry rot. If that’s the case, what could this be and how do I deal with it? Also, my second question is since I put all of the items in the same bag, could I have contaminated the rest of the clothing and what do I do to avoid spreading?

Thank you
Victoria

 

[Jonathan]

It could be a bonded fabric and the powder is the glue that was the bonding? You get it in fabric coats of the 1960s a lot.

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

Do you have a clothes line, Victoria. I would first do that if possible with the rest of the clothing especially on a breezy day. You should probably wear a mask and gloves while doing it. This may help to get it off the clothing that you placed inside the same bag.

 

[anothertimevintageapparel]

Unfortunately, the more you handle it, the more it disintegrates onto everything else. It is deadly for your lungs so wear a mask as Mary Jane said.

Dont open anymore in your house and do as Mary Jane said. Take it all outside to open and dump the bag.

We have all learned the hard way with this dust

 

[MagsRags]

aka "Devil Dust". Awful stuff.

 

[Jonathan]

I have a faux leopard coat that had that problem and I put it in a tumble dryer without heat and ran it for twenty minutes when there was already some lint in the trap, to ensure I was catching all the dust. After doing that a few times, all the powder was gone, and I still have the coat.

 

[Vintagiality]

I am sad to report that after many attempts to save it, the devil dust did not go away but the dress started tearing apart so I had to discard it. Thank you all. Next time I will be extra careful not to buy something like this. Lesson learned!

 

[Pinkcoke]

I have had similar problems a 1960's knitted dress, as Jonathan says it was wool bonded with a man made fibre that had broken down leaving the knitted structure unstable.

 

[Vintagiality]

I think that’s exactly what I had

 

[thevintagebungalow]

Devil Dust is the worst!