The royal warship Wasa capsized and sank in Stockholm harbor on August 10, 1628. In 1961 she was raised and new methods of preservation had to be developed to meet the special needs of the objects found. The sails were in extremely fragile condition and all unfolding had to be carried out under water. The sail parts were soaked in a 1% solution of oxalic acid and water to dissolve the rust and rust-bound clay. They could not be dried immediately because of shrinkage so they were put first in a 50% solution of alcohol in water and then two successive baths of pure alcohol. They were then moved to a xylene bath and were subsequently unrolled and allowed to dry without shrinkage. The sails were then mounted on a close weave glass fiber fabric with a solution of copolymer of styrene. 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutyl acrylate.