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The opening of historic properties to visitors exposes houses and their furnishings to many potentially damaging factors, principally light, dust and wear and tear.
‘Perhaps we do not always realise what a privilege it is to see so many of our country houses complete with their original contents, a sight that can hardly be paralleled anywhere else in the world, and cannot be re-created. How vital it is, therefore, that the traditions of housekeeping should not just be maintained, or revived where they have slipped, but improved in the light of modern scientific knowledge. It is, without doubt, the only way in which future generations will be able to share our experience to the full.’
Introduction by John Cornforth to The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping (revised edition 1993).
The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping combines the best of 18th- and 19th-century housekeeping traditions with the latest developments in conservation science, and research into methods of decay.
Hide and Seek by J J Tissot, c.1877, shows the everyday use of linen Holland blinds to protect furnishings from light damage. Today, light meters are used to ensure that lowered blinds allow sufficient illumination for visitors to distinguish colour and form.
Ceramics and glass are dusted every year with a hogshair fitch, and washed every 3-5 years using cotton wool swab sticks moistened with a weak solution of chemically neutral detergent.
Acid-free tissue paper hats and fitted dust covers (made by volunteers) protect furniture and objets d’art from dust during winter, reducing the daily workload of housekeeping staff and enabling them to concentrate on detailed spring cleaning.
Fragile textiles are surface-cleaned annually, using a hip-mounted vacuum cleaner with reduced suction, fitted with a mini-crevice tool and fine nylon net, to prevent accidental removal of loose thread.
19th-century case covers survive today in the Saloon at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire. Used to protect expensive upholstery from dust and light, these covers would only have been removed for very honoured guests on special occasions. Case covers are still used by the National Trust to protect upholstered furniture during the closed season.
