Another DYI/ HOW do you DO it question - about rotting fabric / preservation

[UTUSN]

So I've got these Wizard of Oz medals, in a shadow box, for 30 yrs. Guess what, last midnight, I updated and dusted the inside and noticed that the FABRIC is rotted on some of them.


O.K., so I can replace these deals, but is there a chemical spray/compound that I can spray on the new ones that will keep them from ROTTING?!1

[Kali]

1. rotted - like mouldy?

google fabric or textile preservation. might be something there

[KG]

2. shrink wrap?

[marzipanni]

3. Are the medals on silk or rayon ribbons?

This website has a good explanation of why fabric rots and what you can do about it.
https://www.mini-magic.com/

[leeroysphitz]

4. You LOOOOOOVE "Gloop".

[struggle4progress]

5. Depends on the fabric

To avoid chemical degradation, try controlling temperature and limiting exposure to strong light

To avoid molds and mildews, try keeping moisture down (dessicant packets?): special collection librarians, who need to prevent mould growth on book bindings, may also have some suggestions (thymol?)

For some materials, you might get arthropod damage as well: if your shadow box is well sealed, that might not be a problem -- or you might want a touch of pesticide in any small crack that some tiny sub-pinhead-sized creature could crawl into

[UTUSN]

6. Since the thread got kicked up this A.M. I want to thank all the posters for

the interest and suggestions. I crashed soon after posting and didn't get to see them till this morning.

Just to clear up some of the questions, it looks like physical decomposition, not mold. The ribbon material is probably rayon or some other artificial fabric, not silk. Odd, but 2 or 3 of them are rotted, while the others are not.

Unfortunately, my shadow box is not hermetically sealed. Far from it, since I homemade it (and it looks it).