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House Cleaning: Paintings

To Preserve Oil Paintings.-Apply two or three coats of pure whitelead paint to the back of the can- This preserves the canvas from damp, mold, and mildew, and makes it practically indestructible. Many ancient canvases treated in this way have been preserved for centuries.

The same process will strengthen a decaying canvas.

To Clean Oil Paintings. To clean an oil painting, wash the surface gently with clear warm water, using a soft cloth or fine sponge, let dry, and rub gently with a soft flannel cloth moistened with pure olive oil.

The water softens the accumulated smoke, dust, and dirt, and the oil assists in wiping it away.

Or wash with milk diluted with warm water, and dry without rinsing.

Or cut a potato in half and rub gently with the fresh surface, slicing off the soiled portions, until the whole is cleansed.

The practice of covering the surface of paintings with soft soap or other alkaline lyes is a very mischievous one. If the paintings are of any value, they should be cleaned only by an expert.

To Clean Prints. Fasten the print to a board by means of thumb tacks, cover with fine common salt, and moisten the salt slightly with lemon juice. Turn the board at an angle and pour boiling water over the surface until the salt and lemon juice are washed off. Dry gradually in the shade.

Or, to remove yellow stains from engravings, dissolve hydrochloride of soda in water. Moisten a cloth with this solution and lay over the stain until it is removed. Rinse with clear water.

To Restore White in Oil Paintings. To renovate old oil paintings in which the whites have become dark by the action of the air on paints containing carbonate of lead or other lead compounds, apply, by means of a soft brush, water charged with four or five volumes of oxygen.

Afterwards let dry and go over the painting with copal varnish.

To Mend Gilt Frames. - To replace on gilt frames ornaments that have been broken off and lost, melt together with gentle heat 1 pound of rosin, pint of linseed oil, and gill of Venetian turpentine. Dissolve separately pound of glue in 2 quarts of water and mix the two solutions. Boil and stir constantly until the water is evaporated, leaving a thick mass, to which add powdered whiting until the whole is of the consistency of putty. Mold to the desired shape while warm, and when cold it will set and harden.

Color with gilt paint.

To Clean Wood Frames. - First dust with a soft brush, and afterwards wipe with flannel dipped in sweet oil. with a moistened cloth dipped in powdered pumice or rotten stone.