Cleaning
Painting Cleaning & Varnish Removal
The most dramatic transformation in conservation is often cleaning — the careful removal of what time has laid over the paint.
Dirt, dust, and other airborne particulates settle on the surface of a painting and accumulate over time. This layer of grime can dull the image and even give the painting a yellowed appearance. Natural-resin varnishes also yellow and darken as they age. A varnish is a coating applied after a painting has dried — its purpose is to protect the surface, saturate the paint layer, and provide an even overall sheen. When a varnish no longer achieves those goals, it can be removed and replaced with a new one.
Cleaning can often remove the yellowed appearance of a painting — carefully, gradually, and only after testing. Small cleaning tests in unobtrusive areas establish what can be removed safely and what must stay. The solvents and methods are chosen for the individual painting: an Old Master will be cleaned with an entirely different solution than a contemporary acrylic.
What cleaning is not
Cleaning is not stripping. The goal is never a “like new” surface but the recovery of the artist’s intent with the painting’s history intact. Some things are preserved deliberately — an artist’s own varnish, historically significant inscriptions — and some discoloration cannot be removed safely. We will always tell you which is which before work begins.
Why does my painting look yellow or brown?
Most often it is a coating — a layer of grime, or a varnish that has darkened with age. Sometimes a simple surface cleaning brings more improvement than a varnish removal; in other cases the aged varnish is removed and replaced with a fresh, stable one. Either way, cleaning brings a painting closer to its original colors, and the change can be dramatic.
Can every painting be cleaned?
No — and part of our job is knowing when not to. Some paintings are too sensitive to be cleaned, and some surface coatings are too tenacious to be removed safely. Testing tells us what is safe before any treatment is proposed.
Can I clean it myself with bread, potato, or a household cleaner?
Please don’t. If the painting matters enough to clean, it matters enough to be professionally cleaned.
Wondering what is under the yellow? Send us photographs — an overall view in daylight tells us a great deal.
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