Q-tips run through fast in Jia Ting, an antique fabric restorer's lab.

The q-tips, dipped in deionized water, are used to rub off the dirt from old pieces of clothes, with movements ever so lightly.

Jia says, sometimes, cleaning up just one square centimeter of cloth is considered good work for the day.

The single piece of a boot's surface that she and her team have been working on has taken several months just to clean. And cleaning is only the first step to bringing it back to life.

Jia would compare her line of work to what doctors do.

"Imagine a patient seeking help from a doctor. We work in a similar way.  We check the textiles up, sometimes giving them the equivalent of CT-scans; make a diagnosis;  we do consultations on treatment, and we operate on them," Jia told CGTN.

The whole process kneads crafts and sciences altogether.

Jia would say that restorers are often chemists, analysts, artists and artisans all in one.

Her work also demands a special strand of personality.

"Look at our work, it's one stitch at a time. You have to be able to sit steadily through all of it." Jia said.

She's born with that edge, as Jia comes from a family of antique restorers. But she was attracted to textiles when she was just in her teens because she liked the look of vintage Chinese clothing.

Now, as one of China's youngest associate researchers in textile archeology, Jia said she hopes to share her knowledge and love to the young students today, much as her teacher Wang Yarong had taught her.

Xie Fei, a student at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, has been working with Jia on a Yuan Dynasty robe. She has learned to sit through the day, stitching and comparing notes.

"We don't think it's that hard. So long as you like the work, as we do here in the lab, you can carry it out," Xie said.

Jia said one of her career goals is to include more people in the study of textile archeology. She said many clothes are waiting to be studied and recovered.

In the museum at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, she counted some 200 pieces of clothing that are waiting to go through the restoration process.

"It's impossible to finish all of them by the time I retire."

The clock is ticking.

Also, the deadline for the rare robe from Yuan Dynasty must be stitched up and put on display within the year.

"That we will sure manage," Jia said.

(Top image: Jia Ting, fabric restorer, works on a robe from the Yuan Dynasty. /CGTN Photo)