The method and reason will be explained at a free event in Worthing on 30 June.
Other historical areas to be explored include how suffragettes used fashion in their protests and the hazards of hand-knitted bathing costumes in the 1930s.
‘Objects Unwrapped’ is a collaborative project between students and staff at the °®¶¹´«Ã½ and Worthing Museum and Art Gallery to develop “understanding and communication of its exceptional collections”.
Dr Annebella Pollen, Academic Programme Leader, History of Art and Design at the °®¶¹´«Ã½, said: “There will be short talks and object displays – and visitors will learn about the science of patchwork quilts in the 1830s and fears of fiction in campaigns against public libraries in the 1890s.”