Effects of artificial ageing on textiles' properties

In the present paper work it was evaluated the degradation degree of textile material after different types of exposure using micro-destructive methods such as: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), stereomicroscope and Datacolor spectrophotometer. Thus, samples of cotton fabrics were exposed in three different methods: first – outdoors, to natural conditions, second – at a temperature of 60⁰C in an oven and third – buried in commercial plant soil in closed recipients. After 72 hours and 216 hour, specimens of the samples were taken and evaluated. Thereby, microscopic analyzes revealed that the cotton materials are more degraded after burial. The results obtained were correlated with chromatic parameters (DL*, DC*, DE*) and white degree (Berger and CIE). All the samples have color differences in comparison with the unexposed samples; they also present more saturated color and are darker. Cultural heritage represents our history, thus it is important to know how the environment works on textile materials and this way we can manage better the conservation requirements. Future studies will also be carried out on linen and wool fabrics.