OrnamentTracker

Care & Keeping

Your ornaments carry your family's story. These guides cover how to keep them safe: cleaning, storing, displaying, and knowing when a piece needs a professional. Every technique here comes from published museum conservation guidance, and every page cites its sources.

The pillar

Six guides, one promise

We only publish care techniques we can trace to a named conservation source: the U.S. National Park Service's museum program, the Canadian Conservation Institute, and the American Institute for Conservation. Where the honest answer is "take it to a conservator," we say that instead of inventing a home remedy.

Guide 1

Cleaning

Safe dusting for glass and painted ornaments, what never to do, and the one washing method conservators approve for plain glass.

Read the cleaning guide →
Guide 2

Storage

The museum way to pack ornaments: unbuffered acid-free tissue, foam supports, and boxes that actually protect.

Read the storage guide →
Guide 3

Display

Enclosed cases, stable placement, and the handling habits that prevent most breakage before it happens.

Read the display guide →
Guide 4

Preservation

Long-term thinking: environment, minimal handling, and how to recognize "weeping" glass before it's too late.

Read the preservation guide →
Guide 5

Restoration & Repair

What's genuinely safe to fix at home, what isn't, and how to find a vetted conservator for the pieces that matter.

Read the repair guide →
Guide 6

Caps, Hooks & Hangers

The small hardware that saves ornaments: replacing crown caps, choosing hooks, and hanging heavy pieces safely.

Read the hardware guide →