Cleaning An Oil Painting

[Reefgazer]

What is the best way to clean a painting that is heavily layered with grime that has built up over the years?  The painting is oil on canvas, has no tears or rips, and is about 30 years old.  It is in a wooden frame.  I was getting quotes in the hundreds of dollars to do this, so I have to figure out how to do it myself because I can't afford that/  

[Katy]

Dust it with a *new* swiffer duster and don’t try to remove the grime. You’ll damage the painting.

[Corraleno]

This is going to sound crazy, but I promise it's not only effective, it's recommended by professional art conservators: you use saliva on a q-tip and gently rub a small area in circles to loosen the grime. Do one small area at a time, like if you're doing a still life, do one apple, then move on to the pear, then the bowl, or if you're doing a portrait, do each eye, then the nose, etc. I used to work with art conservators and I have done this myself with a large and fairly valuable painting that was given to me by my ex-MIL. It's time consuming, but it works brilliantly — my in-laws were very heavy smokers and the painting was very yellowed — the sky was practically green instead of blue. It cleaned up beautifully.

 

 

[Corraleno]

From the Getty Museum: Why We Sometimes Use Spit to Clean Paintings

When paintings at Getty need cleaning, conservators have an arsenal of tools they can choose from, including a variety of solvent and water-based cleaning systems. But sometimes, one of the simplest methods is the most effective: saliva cleaning.

Yes, you read that right. Historically, human saliva, which can be considered a mild enzymatic solution, is a commonly used cleaning agent at art museums. “It’s actually one of the first treatment procedures I learned in training for conservation,” said Kari Rayner, associate conservator of paintings at the Getty Museum. There are a few reasons why saliva cleaning can be a surprisingly helpful conservation technique.

Human saliva is well-suited for removing dust, dirt, built-up grime, or foreign materials like nicotine from artwork. It contains enzymes including amylase and lipase, which break down starches and fats sometimes found in grime—not surprising considering saliva’s role in helping you break down food! The pH of saliva can vary from person to person, but on average is slightly acidic, which can improve cleaning performance. Its warm temperature can also encourage removal of grime and other non-original materials.

Developments in cleaning chemistry have allowed conservators to identify the many different factors that influence the efficacy of cleaning, finely tailor solutions for safely removing surface grime, and even imitate natural saliva in formulations described as “synthetic saliva.” 

In a practical sense, human saliva is no-cost, sustainable, and non-toxic. The technique is often particularly suitable for paintings that are already protected with a layer of varnish, which provides a barrier between the saliva and the paint itself. Even if varnish removal is the eventual goal of a treatment, removing surface grime is often an important initial step in getting to know the painting and its condition.