How to clean a board

Paintings generally die hard. They are designed to last at least 100 years. Well maintained and stored in good conditions, a painting can last for several centuries. However, when they are hung indoors, or worse, when they have been in a dusty or humid room, the paintings can see their colors deteriorate quite quickly. Oil vapors from the kitchen, nicotine from tobacco, combined with dust, then form a layer which reduces the colors and shine of the paint. The maintenance of works of art must generally be entrusted to restoration specialists. We will see, however, that cleaning a painting is a fairly simple operation, provided that the canvas, paint and varnish have not suffered significant damage.

Photo by Anton

Cleaning an oil painting

To assess the painting's restoration needs, you must first ensure the type of support, as well as the type of paint.

If it's oil painting on canvas and the colors seem just a little faded or yellowed, it might be worth cleaning up. Here are the steps to follow:

You will first need to remove the frame from the painting . Check on the edge that it is indeed a painting on canvas. Some works may have been painted on paper on canvas. In this case, traces of marouflage of the paper on the canvas are visible on the edge. If your table is in this case, we advise you not to go any further. The risk of destroying the work is too great. It is then better to entrust the restoration to a specialist, or to keep the work as is.

  1. Oil paintings are usually varnished. If the varnish seems cracked or has disappeared in places, we again advise you to call a painting restoration specialist. In the case of a painting without any commercial or sentimental value, you can always give it a try. But be careful, there are many surprises with apparently worthless works found in an attic. Find out carefully. If everything looks good to you, then let's move on to the next step.
  2. Make sure the canvas is taut and that any nails or staples are still present. If this is the case, prepare a lotion made from lightly soapy water. Preferably use real Marseille soap. Some use organic dishwashing detergent, but we have not tested this method. We do not recommend the magical “special board cleaner” products that you can find on the market. Some can cause disasters on your favorite works. Finally, others are serious products, but very technical in use. They are reserved for professionals who know precisely in which cases to use them.
  3. Wearing “surgical” type gloves is recommended. No need to add fingerprints to your painting.
  4. Make large “homemade” Cotton Swabs, using small wooden skewer-style sticks and small cotton balls.
  5. Lightly dip a Cotton Swab in your preparation, then roll it gently on the canvas. You can rub very lightly on certain parts, but rolling is safer. Start by cleaning the light colors. As soon as the cotton becomes dirty, turn it over or change it.
  6. Finally, wipe the board with a soft cloth. The microfiber cloth works very well.

Cleaning acrylic paint

Acrylic paint is commonly used to paint pictures. This painting is very successful, especially for contemporary works of art. Acrylic paint is often not varnished. It is then necessary to take more precautions than in the case of oil painting.

Start by dry cleaning, or dusting, using a brush and a microfiber cloth. Dusting is generally enough to restore the shine to acrylic-painted paintings.

  1. If this doesn't satisfy you, then you can try cleaning with a cotton swab. To do this, we advise you to make your own cotton swabs using wooden sticks, such as small skewers, and small cotton balls. In fact, commercially sold cotton swabs are too short and the cotton is too tight.
  2. Lightly moisten the Cotton Swabs in distilled water (such as an iron or car battery), then gently roll the Cotton Swab onto the canvas. Don't give in to the temptation to scrub. Be very attentive, arm yourself with patience, and at the slightest alert, stop the operation immediately. A good idea is to do a few tests on the edge of the canvas, if it is painted, or in a corner where the painting will be covered by the frame.
  3. After doing your cleaning test, let it dry for a few minutes to make sure everything is going well. Above all, do not “soak” the cotton pads. Light humidification is sufficient. You can repeat this operation until the result seems satisfactory to you.
  4. Then gently wipe your board with a microfiber cloth.

Cleaning a watercolor painting

To clean a watercolor, our advice will be very simple: refrain! Aside from light dusting with a dry brush, watercolor cleaning operations should absolutely be entrusted to an art restoration professional.

The restoration of a watercolor is, in fact, complex and requires removing the cardboard, dry cleaning using special erasers (powder) then color solubility tests, to finally lead to cleaning processes sophisticated.

To summarize, cleaning an oil painting is not very complicated provided that it is not damaged and that you have a little time on your hands.

Cleaning a painting painted with acrylic remains possible, although more delicate.

Cleaning a watercolor is strongly discouraged. The only solution remains to call a professional.

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