They are usually done with oil paints, meaning their color pigments are bound together by some type of oil, often flaxseed oil. Oil paint is very popular among artists because it is slow-drying the artist has plenty of time to achieve the desired results versatile in its application: either to achieve color gradient, model light, and shade or to create crisp effects. It can be transparent, opaque, or translucent in effect, and its textural variation is unequaled. To keep your oil painting looking good for the next couple of decades, it is important to learn some basics on caring for and how to clean an oil painting.
Thinking About How to Clean an Oil Painting? At First Prevent Damp and Mold
To care for your oil painting, you have to avoid dampness and mold so it doesn't damage your beautiful painting. The measures to avoid moisture and mold are as follows:
-Keep a dehumidifier
-Not place paintings near sources of heat
-Cover the paintings in plastic
-Do not hang paintings in bathrooms, where steam and water usually linger for a long period of time.
-Do not hang the paintings on the outer walls they are probably most exposed to damp air compared with the other areas of the room.
Mold is a type of fungus growing on various surfaces, some of them are paintings. As you must know, molds cause discoloration, staining, and paint layer damage. Not all fungi are dangerous to your paintings, though. An example of mildew usually develops in damp circumstances and won't seriously damage a painting unless it is left without treatment for a very long period of time.
Damp, mold, and fungus can irreparably destroy oil paintings. Because mold growth is hazardous to structural integrity mold formation is not resolved it will continue to decompose paint and canvas. If you find your painting starting to mold or grow fungus, carefully remove the mold using a soft brush and a dampened cloth. Be very delicate with the moist fabric so you will not burn your painting.
Suppose you find yourself in an active battle against mold on your paintings. In this case, it is also important to completely dry out your storage space as soon as possible desiccating it with a dehumidifier if necessary and taking measures to reduce the overall humidity inside that area of the museum or gallery space.
Consider the Environment When Thinking About How to Clean an Oil Painting
The environment is one of the huge factors that may affect how to care for canvas paintings. So, pay attention to this while buying an oil painting. Oil paintings can degrade from the humidity and salt air. Being exposed to natural light and great variations in temperature can make the paint expand and shrink. This would crack or chip the surface of the painting. Rare or expensive pictures are usually kept in a climate-controlled environment at low humidity with UV protection. Take your painting from direct sunlight and graze it this way it would be best protected from severe environmental influences.
As you seek to protect your oil painting reproductions with glass, there are two essential things to take into account:
-The picture must have thoroughly dried
-The glass pane should not touch the painting
First and foremost, light has a huge impact on the quality of oil paintings after some time, and not necessarily for the best. Oil paint is fantastically robust, but eventually, the UV rays in direct sunlight will cause it to fade. This is why museums put oil paintings under UV-filtering glass or acrylic before display. If you want your masterpiece to maintain its color, then keep it away from direct sunlight! It is a good rule of thumb to keep your artwork out of reach from fluorescent lights, too. Fluorescent lights may be weak compared to sunlight, but they do their fair share of damage.
You should also keep your oil paintings only in places where the temperature ranges between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius. This, of course, means your living room isn't ideal, nor is your house if you happen to live in some more temperate clime. But do not make too much of it if you do not have any access to some fancy, climate-controlled storage facility. A cooler will do quite well, just so long as it is not too cold. Remember, freezing temperatures will dry out your paint!
It is smoke and dust that can really damage your oil paintings. So, do not smoke near them, and don't use vacuum cleaners in their vicinity because vacuum cleaners distribute dust particles around the room. Further, dusting sprays only push dust around and hence should not be used. You should clean the painting with a soft brush or a soft cloth after turning off the fan in the room. You should be very careful not to mix colors while cleaning your famous tree paintings. Cleaning of famous artworks, like that of Vincent Van Gogh's famous “Blossoming Almond Tree” painting, requires special care because the colors are mixed in an unusual style. You should not afford to destroy this masterpiece and hence should make use of a soft brush and mild cleaning solution, moving your hands gently backward and forward. Care should, therefore, be taken to avoid some pressure during cleaning and use of coarse abrasive cleaners since these may pull off or damage sensitive colors and brushwork layers of the painting. Soaps are even bad for oil paintings as they contain alkalis which may accelerate oxidation on the painting's surface through its interaction with dirt. Clean only with very mild soaps, preferably natural. Soaps should be used while avoiding rubbing and using plenty of water. Never clean using coarse cleaning agents and organic solvents.
If you want your painting to be free from cracks and viscosity loss, here are some things to keep in mind:
-Humidity: Oil paintings should ideally be hung in rooms with a humidity level between 30 and 40%. The same goes for dryness—if you live in an arid climate, ensure there's
-Light: Direct sunlight is the absolute worst thing for an oil painting. Keep it covered or hang it, so the sun never shines directly on it.
-Dust or dirt: To keep dust or dirt particles from getting into your paints, keep them tightly sealed and away from open windows/doors when not in use!
Do Not Forget About Sunlight While Cleaning an Oil Painting
Protect your color paintings from direct sunlight, using UV-protected glass or museum-quality archival materials to ensure the colors will last longer. For this, the paintings should not be exposed to strong or direct lighting for a longer period of time.
This is because chemicals in paint decompose under the action of light; some colors are more subject to this process than others. Generally speaking, whites and yellows are the most sensitive to the fading action of sunlight, while blues, browns, and earth colors are rather stable.
The general rule of thumb is that the brighter or lighter the color, the more apt it is to fade but there are always those cases that prove exceptions exist. Very dark colors also have the capability to fade with time. For instance, when looking at a list of paintings by artist name, phthalocyanine green or Phthalo Green can be found in paintings of artists from all styles and periods since it's such a heavily pigmented color. Phthalo Green is prone to fading rather quickly than expected when the painting is exposed to direct sunlight or fluorescent lighting for long periods. It is on record that the painting of the Mona Lisa was painted with this very same pigment of Phthalo Green, thus making the painting susceptible to the same fading effects if exposed to direct sunlight or fluorescent lighting for long lengths of time.
So what can you do?
When possible, avoid hanging art where it will be in direct solid sunlight every day; rooms are so much better lit through indirect sources such as lamps that prevent fading. If you are not using any natural source of illumination through a window, please make sure you shut off the unattended fluorescent lights as long as possible, as these give off UV rays that, over a period of time, will cause your artwork to fade.
It is said that sunlight results in irreparable damage and is responsible for the shrinkage and drying of the paint film due to which cracks are produced. This argument, though partially true has been shown not to be so because improper techniques used during painting result in the fracturing of paintings whether or not the painting ever remains in sunlight.
And if you do find that your oil painting has become brittle and cracked, well, don't worry! It will still look beautiful on your wall. Cracking does not mean that your picture is ruined; it simply means that it is to be regarded as an antique and treated with care. Handle artwork like this very, very carefully!
Cleaning
Cleaning an Oil Painting: You can use soft brushes or a cotton swab for this, therefore you don't damage them while doing it. Much more care and preciseness must be applied to cleaning oil paintings since they can somehow be considered fragile. "You don't want to harm the paint or the canvas, and you definitely don't want to harm the finish. Thus, you have to be particular with the use of correct techniques and materials for properly caring for your paintings. Here is what you ought to consider when cleaning oil paintings.
Soft Brush
Clean dust off of an oil painting with a soft brush. Dust your painting lightly, working in one direction only. Never use commercial cleaners and water on an oil painting unless the artist created it with water-soluble materials. Too harsh cleaning of an oil painting might result in the removal of pigment and permanent damage. This you can do with a camel hair artist's brush, particularly those designed to take off the dust without harming the surface. Meanwhile, use light pressure, too, for you would not want to scratch the canvas.
The best thing you can do to clean an oil painting is to use your most delicate touch. Gently take a soft brush a sable or squirrel hair with long bristles, even a makeup brush if you can find one and in no case water or harsh chemicals in whatever form, feather dusters, vacuum cleaners, cloths, paintbrushes of whatever kind, or anything else you can possibly think of too abrasive to the surface.
Cotton Swab
-Using a soft cotton swab, apply the cleaning solution to the surface of the painting.
-Use a soft, clean cotton swab (not one that's dirty or crusted with dried oil paint) to apply the cleaning solution gently.
-It would help if you used a cotton swab with a pointed tip to reach small spaces between brush strokes.
-Use a clean cotton swab when applying a new cleaner to the painting's surface.
You only need to be careful not to put too much pressure on it; otherwise, you will destroy the painting. Never, however, use an abrasive tool, strong chemicals, or excessive water, which will hurt the surface and loosen the paint.
It doesn't call for you to remove every speck of dust and dirt from the painting; once you have dislodged the dust/dirt stop cleaning. Avoid over-scrubbing, overcleaning, and cleaning with a plastic swab.
What to Avoid in Cleaning Oil Painting
You may want to give in to the temptation to try a paper towel or rag for cleaning oil painting. Resist the temptation. Neither one is suited to the task at hand, and in some instances, both could do so much more harm than good. Your best option is to use a soft-bristled brush or microfiber cloth. Steer clear of brushes that have stiff bristles, as these may take across the surface of your painting and cause damage.
As with any cleaning project, less is often more. When it comes to washing an oil painting systematically, certainly remember how too much water can spell disaster. Several problems can arise, so here's a rundown on how to avoid those mistakes:
-Don't use a rag or cloth if it's not wet—ensure it's soaked in just the right amount of water.
-Be wary of brushes and sponges—don't use them for too long or too vigorously.
-Do not submerge the painting in a bathtub full of water.
-Do not spray it with a hose.
You may want to place your painting in the perfect position, but remember whatever hangs in a position where there is direct sunlight will fade over time. Your biggest concern is the canvas, as this will be ruined if it stays in the spot for too long. Make sure you keep your paintings away from windows where they'll be hit right on. If you go in and out of one room more frequently than another, place your oil painting in another room so that it is not being damaged when you are not around to see it.
You can remove dust when your oil painting gets dusty with the help of a clean, soft brush. Gently wipe down your oil painting with a soft damp cloth to clean dirt off the surface. Avoid the use of harsh chemicals, such as detergents, vinegar, or ammonia. Then wipe off any extra moisture with a dry, clean cloth.
These few simple tips plus some thought to the methods which could be used in cleaning an oil painting will allow you to keep your piece of art fresh for many years ahead.
Conclusion
Cleaning your oil painting can be fun! It might even make you wonder what else in life you are actually capable of doing. For instance, you might cook you meals that take hours and require many ingredients, since those steps don't annoy you. Or you might just get going on cleaning the rest of your apartment, living room, or office space with the same exuberance. Maybe because one ingredient of oil paint is flaxseed oil and some other things, it is just so satisfying to clean up after that goopy texture, for some people at least. Just be sure to take the appropriate precautions.
