Many of the CW flags that come up for sale bear a letter from either the late Howard Madaus or Fonda Thomsen, or both. With all of the respect we all have for Howie, we also know, and he admitted, that he had been fooled by flags before - fakes being offered as authentic.

Fonda, to my knowledge, has never been fooled. I have been to her lab at least three times over the years and saw and was told how they treat flags. It is completely forensics based and forensics, like ground evidence, never lie. Her fibers were sent to an internationally recognized textiles lab for analysis and she did much of the rest at her own lab. Textile experts have a solid ground in chemistry for this reason.

I also learned how she cleaned flags with ionized water and with PH strips in the tank as each part of the flag, especially if it had painted devices, have different PH levels. I just cringe when I hear of people washing flags on their own and not using Fonda's methodology. The flag is then air dried in another special tank.

If you want something for textiles done by a professional then you send it to a professional.

Greg Biggs