PELE'S BOOTS

I joined the Conservation and Museums Advisory Service (CMAS) in April 2019. One of my first projects was working on a pair of Pele's football boots. The boots had been brought to us from a private collector with the intention that they would go on display at the National Football Museum. Due to attending a previous course on the Conservation of Plastics this was seen a perfect starter project for me.

The plastic soles on the shoes had severly deteriorated. Plastics are an emergying area in conservation and pose many challenges for the conservator. They are made up of many components which fight against each other, such as the base plastic, plasticisers, fillers and additives. Often their exact composition is unknown to the conservator.

To support digital output during Covid-19 at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, where CMAS is based, I produced a short video about the project which can be viewed on the Wiltshite and Swindon History Centre's You Tube page here.

You can also view the official publication of the project as presented in 'Plastics in Peril' conference held by Cambridge University Museums. Its available to download for free here

A special thanks to Shannah Rhynard-Geil and Gabrielle Flexer for their time and knowledge which got this project off the ground.