Cleaning an Oil Painting
Experiment on Cheap Paintings
By taking good care of oil paintings and cleaning them, you can ensure they'll be enjoyed by your descendants long after you're gone. However, by rushing through the cleaning process and not using the right products and tools, you can easily ruin a treasured work of art. More oil paintings are destroyed by careless restorations than by fires. Before trying to clean a valuable oil painting, experiment on some cheap paintings to determine which products work best.
Deframing
Take a photograph of the painting before taking it out of its frame in case you need to make any corrections. Bend wire nails to remove the painting. Working from the painting's bottom, remove any other nails, using pliers and an old ruler or any other flat metal. Normally, you can easily remove a picture from a frame by removing the other three nails. Using rubber gloves, carefully lift the painting out of the frame, laying it down on its front side on a stable, flat surface covered with soft cushioning such as polyurethane foam.
Vacuuming
Using your vacuum's crevice tool, carefully vacuum all dust from the frame and back of the painting, as well as between the canvas and the wooden frame holding the canvas (stretcher). When vacuuming, be careful not to crack or flake paint. You may need to use a small, blunt, hooked knife for loosening dirt trapped between the canvas and stretcher.
Cleaning Products
Materials--which can be purchased online or in most craft or art stores--should include rolled brown wrapping paper; neutralizer; emulsion cleaner; regular cotton swabs and wooden, 6-inch-long ones; varnish remover; and paint varnish. The neutralizer is used to stop any unfavorable action of a chemical you're using besides cleaning the painting of surface dirt. Use the varnish remover and emulsion cleaner for restoring the painting. The varnish remover is for removing old, yellowed varnish; the emulsion cleaner is used for removing dust, dirt, smoke and other grime. Decide which does the best job by experimenting.
Cleansing
With cotton swabs, apply neutralizer to the entire painting, initially cleansing it of all dirt and dust. Next, using a wooden cotton swab, begin in a small corner, having the neutralizer ready to counteract any undesirable effects from a product. Apply neutralizer on another cotton swab after testing each small area to neutralize the cleaning. Do not rub. After discovering the best product to use, clean the rest of the painting, using gentle, precise circular motions with the wooden cotton swab. Check for dirt on the swabs to make sure you're removing dirt and not paint.
Final Steps
Varnish the painting, using a gloss varnish. When finished, take an "after" picture and compare it to the earlier photo, making any needed corrections by referring to your "before" picture. For added protection, varnish the painting again.
