Wool and Wool Knits

[jetranger407]

So I recently whipped out a wonderful deadstock WEP jacket I had in the closet. I was admiring how it managed to evade the holes by moths along the wool knits after it's 50+ year history. Lulled into a sense of confidence by it's like new-condition, and my own confidence that I could wear it carefully.. I did so.

 

After wearing it I identified three holes on one cuff, and three/four along the neck.

 

My conclusion: the cuff that received the most amount of stress on taking off the jacket, the cuff i would use to start taking off the jacket, had developed holes from this effort.

 

Apparently, wool dries out and degrades over time and becomes brittle -- brittle enough that it just starts to break on its own. A textiles conservations page on wikipedia confirms it, as wool is protein heavy and protein degrades/decomposes with time. And there you have it.

 

Anyone else hear of a similar fate when dealing with old wool knits? Pretty unfortunate if this is the definitive situation, as that puts alot of none-too old 'vintage' items in the "do not wear" and "display only" category...

 

I do second guess my sanity, that I never saw these moth holes -- but doubtful, I'm usually pretty paranoid about these things in the first place. I'm 99.9% certain it was pristine.