Good Boxing Day All,
I am new to this site and excited to post. Weird first question. I am looking to buy a vintage 1960s "Harrods" Cashmere sweater (made in Scotland). It is labeled as "Mothproof" and knowing the issues with chemical use in that era, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion about it? I usually do not have skin issues and own a number of vintage sweaters and clothes (though none marked as "mothproof"). Am I being too worried?
Thanks everyone!
If I understand correctly, it was primarily the environmental damage caused by runoff when mothproofed garments were manufactured or dry-cleaned that was the concern; wearing them, especially when there was no direct skin contact, was not seen as being especially dangerous, although I don't know if there have been any long-term studies on this. In the 1960s I think the mothproofing would likely have been dieldrin or some brand of Eulan.
Thanks so much for the feedback. I let it pass and someone else bought it. It was a nice looking sweater (I liked the color and cut, and vintage cashmere is high quality compared to anything under $200 today) but I was airing on the cautious side. Probably would have been fine. I found this link and want to pass it on about some moth proof vintage items using one particular chemical:
http://coutureallure.blogspot.com/2008/10/vintage-sweaters-dalton-cashmere-and.html
and another example of that product on a sweater:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-50s-Dut...814152?hash=item56914b3b48:g:YMYAAOSwuTxV-hjw
Onto the next old vintage item...
Cheers!