Interestingly, when I was working with some old documents at Chastleton and asked to borrow some gloves, I was told by the NT staff that they don't believe gloves are needed for old documents now. Apparently they scratch them so I was just told to make sure my hands were really clean - fair enough as I had been working in the gardens! However, the following week I was at Oxfordshire Archives and they force gloves on you the minute you arrive. The main thing I guess is to touch the paperwork - and rare furniture and tapestries etc - as little as possible.
Juju
Juju