Storage Requirements for (Oil) Paintings
- Temperature and humidity conditions: 18-22°С, relative humidity level - 40-70%.
- Maximal illumination - 150 lx
- 100W glow lamp or 20W luminous tube lamp should be placed no closer than a meter from the object (if it’s a 200W lamp - then the minimum distance should be 2 meters, etc).
- Avoid direct sunlight
- Avoid draughts and dramatic temperature and humidity difference
- Try not to touch the painted surface with your hands
- Do not hang above heaters or conditioners
- UV and IR radiations are highly undesirable
- The products of combustion are highly undesirable, such as soot, carbon-black, tobacco smoke, food oils etc
- The room must have good ventilation
Hints and Precautions for (Oil) Painting Preservation
- Dust from the surface should be removed with the clean pad or glove made of velvet or flannel, as these fabrics absorb the dust pretty well. The painted surface should be swept gently in one direction, with minimal pressure. Don’t use any brushes or brooms, even the soft ones, as you can scratch the surface, besides these tools do not absorb the dust, they just disperse it in the air. If you start to sweep the painted surface with a moist rag or try to remove dust with vacuum cleaner it could cause severe damage to your painting.
The backboard can be cleaned with the same pads and gloves, as well as with flat brash (short-bristle) or vacuum cleaner. The painting must be bent a bit towards the stretcher during the process. Your movements on the canvas should be soft and smooth and the brush of the dust collector must not touch the surface at all. You can additionally protect your painting from dust fully covering its reverse side with paperboard. - If the painting is severely soiled, don’t try to clean it yourself, it’s the job for an expert
- The stains of soot and carbon-black must be removed by a restorer only, so don’t try to do it yourself.
- If the canvas becomes sagged (you can see some folds, indulations or other irregularities) never moist the reverse side of the canvas with water, as this can cause the ground exfoliation. If you have a modular stretcher, tamp its bars carefully, and if it’s solid, you should apply to a picture framing studio, as your painting needs to be reupholsted or you may just change your solid stretcher for a modular one.
Storage Demands for Watercolors and Etchings
- Temperature and humidity conditions: 12-25°С, relative humidity level - 40-60%.
- Maximal illumination - 150 lx
- 100W glow lamp or 20W luminous tube lamp should be placed no closer than a meter from the object (if it’s a 200W lamp - then the minimum distance should be 2 meters, etc).
- Avoid direct sunlight
- UV and IR radiations are highly undesirable, use non-reflective glass for protection
- Dramatic temperature and humidity difference are very harmful
- Painting must be protected from moisture
- Do not keep it without glass and frame for a long time
- Get your painting up in a mount first as it provides necessary layer between the painting and the glass, which serves for the better preservation of the painting improving its microclimate
- The room must have good ventilation
Hints and Precautions for Watercolor and Etching Preservation
- First thing you should do to preserve your watercolor or etching is to put it in a frame with non-reflective glass as soon as possible
- The dust should be removed with extra precautions. Only light and fugitive dust could be removed this way, and more thorough cleaning must be entrusted to a restorer with special training.
- Fugitive dust is best to be removed with the help of bellows or, even better, with a dust collector. If this is impossible, use big, extra soft badger-hair brush. Any types of rags or dusters, especially the moist ones, are absolutely inadmissible for this kind of work.
- Soot and black removal requires restorer’s qualification only, so please do not even try to remove them at home
Storage Demands for Pastel Paintings
- Temperature and humidity conditions: 18-20°С, relative humidity level - 50-55%
- Maximal illumination - 30-50 lx
- Avoid direct sunlight
- UV and IR radiations are highly undesirable, use non-reflective glass for protection
- Painting must be protected from moisture
- Dramatic temperature and humidity difference are very harmful
- Do not keep it without glass and frame for a long time, as it’s almost impossible to remove dust from the surface
- Do not touch the painted surface
- Get your painting up in a mount first as it provides necessary layer between the painting and the glass, which serves for the better preservation of the painting improving its microclimate.
- The room must have good ventilation
Hints and Precautions for Pastel Preservation
- First thing you should do when you buy a pastel is to put it in a frame with non-reflective glass
- Soot and black removal requires restorer’s qualification only, so please do not even try to remove them at home
Storage Demands for Batik
- Temperature and humidity conditions: 12-25°С, relative humidity level - 40-60%
- Maximal illumination - 150 lx
- 100W glow lamp or 20W luminous tube lamp should be placed no closer than a meter from the object (if it’s a 200W lamp - then the minimum distance should be 2 meters, etc).
- Avoid direct sunlight and moisture
- Dramatic temperature and humidity difference are very harmful
- Do not hang above heaters or conditioners
- UV and IR radiations are highly undesirable
- Better not to touch the painted surface
- The products of combustion are highly undesirable, such as soot, carbon-black, tobacco smoke, food oils etc.
- The room must have good ventilation
Hints and Precautions for Batik
- Dust should be removed by dust collector. When you hoover, take extra precautions and make sure that the brush doesn’t touch the surface. Rags and dusters of any kind, especially the moist ones, are absolutely unacceptable.
Storage Demands for Sculpture
- High quality iron (with a low sulfur content), especially dusted and worked out, as well as bronze with solid patina are quite safe if relative humidity level is about 55%.
- Avoid dramatic temperature and humidity difference
- The room must have good ventilation
Hints and Precautions for Sculpture
- Works made of solid types of stones (marble, granite, basalt, quartzite) with well-preserved surfaces without metallic elements should be washed once a year. Pollution should be removed with warm water and soap without any dyes or aromatizers. Soup foam is to be applied gradually from top downward with bristle brush, foaming on the surface at the same time.
- Dust form metallic elements should be removed by dry methods only - with brush or vacuum cleaner, otherwise it is a strong chance of corrosion
- It is not recommended to wash art glass with water as it tends to wash away the salts that art glass comprises. You should wipe it with silent spirit twice a year
- If any damage occurs to your sculpture, do not try to repair it yourself, leave it to a specialist!
Please remember - when kept and handled properly, works of art will gratify you for a long time, as well as many generations of your descendants!