In conservation, the right tools matter. They help conservators carry out careful, effective treatments that protect the appearance, structure, and long-term stability of art and historic materials. This summer, ICA–Art Conservation welcomed an important new addition to our Cleveland laboratory: a custom-designed Textiles & Paper Wash Table created specifically for the needs of our conservators.

Its arrival represents a practical advance for our laboratory, but it also tells a larger story about ingenuity, education, generosity, and shared commitment to cultural heritage preservation.

Why a Wash Table Matters in Conservation Treatment

Washing is one of the most consequential steps in many textile and paper conservation treatments. It can help remove harmful degradation products, reduce discoloration, address residues, and support the safe treatment of fragile materials. For a historic document, work on paper, textile, quilt, flag, or other fiber-based object, washing must be approached with deep knowledge of the material, its condition, its media, and its history.

A conservation wash table is not simply a large sink. It is a purpose-built work surface designed to give conservators control while handling delicate objects. The table must support safe water delivery and drainage, allow appropriate access to the object, and accommodate the exact methods used in a professional conservation laboratory.

For ICA’s textile and paper conservators, a better wash table would strengthen the museum-quality art conservation services we provide to museums, libraries, archives, universities, historical societies, community collections, private collectors, artists, and families throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Starting With a Practical Challenge

In 2023, ICA’s conservators recognized that the laboratory needed a more effective solution for washing and treating textiles and works on paper. Commercial wash tables were available, but the cost was difficult to justify for an independent nonprofit conservation center. Rather than accepting that limitation, our team asked a different question: could a wash table be designed around ICA’s actual needs?

That question opened the door to a new kind of collaboration. Instead of adapting our conservation workflow to an expensive, off-the-shelf product, we could develop a design shaped by the people who would use it every day. The project aligned naturally with ICA–Art Conservation’s mission: preserving art and cultural heritage through conservation, advocacy, and education.

Engineering Meets Textiles and Paper Conservation

ICA found a partner close to home at Case Western Reserve University. During the spring and fall semesters of 2024, mechanical and aerospace engineering students Jacob Fraiman, Richard Allen, Jonathan Mazin, and Noah Weise took on the unusual design challenge under the supervision of Sunniva Collins, Associate Dean for Professional Programs and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

The students worked directly with ICA conservators Kate Passannante, Marika Kessler, and Zoey Hasselbring. Together, the group gathered requirements, discussed treatment methods, evaluated specifications, and developed a design tailored to the laboratory.

This exchange was valuable because conservation work is highly specialized. Conservators make decisions based on material science, art history, chemistry, craftsmanship, and an object’s individual condition. Explaining why a wash table needs certain dimensions, surfaces, water controls, and access points required the team to translate a nuanced conservation process into practical engineering requirements.

For the students, it was an opportunity to work with a real client and apply their technical education to a tangible challenge. For ICA’s conservators, it was a chance to articulate the details behind their daily work and imagine how a thoughtfully engineered solution could enhance conservation treatment.

From Student Design to a Working Laboratory Tool

A strong design is only the beginning. Bringing the wash table from concept to completion was made possible by a generous gift from ICA friend Richard Parke, given in honor of former ICA textile conservator Jane Hammond. The gift recognizes Jane’s significant contributions to textile conservation and helps advance her vision for expanded treatment capabilities at ICA.

Designer, fabricator, and artist Daniel Roth transformed the engineering plans into the finished table, with assistance from ICA Special Projects Manager Jordan Mesavage. The result is now installed in our laboratory, ready to support the careful treatment of artworks and historic materials.

This project reflects the value of bringing different forms of expertise together. Conservators identified the need and defined the treatment requirements. Students created a responsive design. A donor provided the resources to make the project possible. Fabrication expertise turned plans into a durable, functional piece of equipment. Each contribution was essential.

What the New Table Means for ICA Clients

The Textiles & Paper Wash Table expands ICA’s capabilities for treating vulnerable materials, including works on paper, archival documents, historic textiles, and family heirlooms. It supports the precise, hands-on work required when objects need washing or other water-based treatment methods.

For clients, this investment reinforces ICA’s commitment to thoughtful, professional art preservation services. Whether we are caring for a museum collection, a library archive, a historic flag, a wedding dress, a paper artifact, or a treasured family object, our work begins with an understanding that every item has its own materials, condition, and significance.

Effective conservation is never a one-size-fits-all process. The new wash table gives our conservators another carefully considered tool for developing treatment approaches that respect both the physical needs and the meaning of the objects in our care.

Sharing the Design With the Conservation Community

One of the most exciting outcomes of this project lies ahead. ICA plans to make the wash table design available as an open-source resource. Other conservation laboratories will be able to learn from the work completed here and adapt the design to fit their own spaces, budgets, and treatment needs.

That shared approach is especially meaningful in a field where nonprofit institutions often need to balance ambitious preservation goals with limited resources. By making the design more broadly accessible, the project can encourage other laboratories to explore practical, cost-conscious ways to improve their own conservation infrastructure.

ICA–Art Conservation is proud that a challenge originating in our Cleveland laboratory may have an impact well beyond it. The wash table demonstrates how collaboration can generate solutions that are not only useful locally, but also valuable to the wider conservation community.