Cleaning antique paper, archivally

Every once and while you run across a problem that takes special knowledge... knowledge that you should pay someone big bucks for, but you can only invest little bucks. I ran across one of those problems last month. I found a pair of lovely, hand-painted etching of fish from the late 1700's. They were part of a famous book (Allgemeine Naturgeschichte Der Fische by Block)  and had been removed- heart breaking to remove pages from a book, but that's another story.

These are beautiful and the one at the right even has a silver wash over it to create the iridescence of the fish. However, they were dirty, like dusty-type dirty, not actually soiled. I needed to have them cleaned, in an archival way, and my best bet was to drive over 2 hours to Atlanta and visit a paper restorer- BIG bucks.

But it was just the dirt I wanted to really remove, I could let the light water damage to the corner and a foxing spot stay. When I mentioned to a local framer that surely I could do a little research and do it myself he said, "could you read a book on baseball and throw a no hitter game?" Thanks Snarky Snarkington. It was then that I remembered why I do not use him very often to frame art.

Turns out there is very little on the web about cleaning antique paper. However, I know enough as a former librarian and trained artist, that there are accessible techniques.  I remember products for removing dirt, cleaning book covers, repairing paper, etc. from archival library supply websites and finally found it. It is called a Dry Cleaning Sponge- note that it is for cleaning dryly, not a product from the dry cleaning industry.

These "sponges" are actually vulcanized rubber foam, cut into squares. Vulcanization is a chemical process that turns goopy rubber into firm or hard rubber.

To use the sponge to clean/restore paper, simple lay the sponge on the paper and pull it across- with the grain and using little to no pressure. Turn the sponge to a clean spot on the sponge and do it again. Avoid any pencil marks that you do not want to erase. Start with the edge of the paper to test the process. Do the important parts last and sparingly.

When your sponge is dirty, clean with soap and water, let dry, and then you can use it again. I bought a twin pack so I could complete a project at one time.

my 200th post!!!... and an awesome table pick

Today's fave pick was the Mersman table (below) and  I'm adding a lesson on picking. This table is one of the hot design trends- dark wood and brass together. You can see it in Design within Reach's new line called Helix,


and in


Jonathan Adler's walnut furnishing with brass accents.

The brass brings light and sparkle to the dark wood. This table has fantastic dark wood with a characteristic Formica top. Now don't be put off by Formica, it is a typical surface from the 50's and 60's and is extremely durable. Counter tops aside, I love finding a great Formica topped table. The desk I am currently writing from is Formica topped and I can set sweaty glasses of iced tea as well as big mugs of hot tea directly on it with no worries.

Picking always includes time spent with cleaners. And, on this journey I am remembering all the "old" cleaners for woods, metals, glasses and fabrics. Today's pick required a trip down memory lane to my childhood of staying with grandmother and great grandmother during the hot summer days and the weekly cleaning of the house. Windex, Pledge, Old English, Wright's Silver Cleaner each with their own cloth rubber banded to the bottle... they were very practical ladies devising the forerunners of the Windex wipe, Pledge wipe, etc. And, it is surprising how easy it is to clean with the results you would want with these older cleaners! And now that my cleaning cloths are all rubber banded back to the bottles, here is my pick of the picks for this weekend!

 



Interested in buying this Mersman 8198 table? Or need advise on cleaning, I'm getting really good with my deep knowledge of cleaning odd stains. Just ask!

... then I used the incantation, "scourgify"!

Finding great objects, accessories, and furnishings at an estate sale satifies the thrill of the chase, but it is not the end of the story. It would be great to be able to "pick" a sales then immediately put it back out for sale with a small finders fee. However, many times...well, most of the time... 95% of the time, really... you have add a heaping helping of elbow grease and some cleaning know-how. 

Take the lovely Paul Hanson Lamp with the oh-so-stylish lattice-work base. Pretty, stylish, and a TOTAL sticky dirt magnet. Every top edge of the lattice edge was filled with sticky dirt, as in not vacuum-able, not to mention the crevices of the base and the edges.

So, since this is glazed white ceramic, it is basically glass... for cleaning purposes, or course. So, with a light weight glass cleaner- with no dyes- and many cotton swabs, I went to town on every edge, crevice, and flat plane with Mrs. Meyers window cleaner in lavender... be case lavender is my fave small. Always choose un-dyed cleaners. If there are light cracks or crazing in the glazing, the dyes can deposit in the crazing and draw attention to the cracks.

My before and afters are below.

"the funk of forty thousand years..."

And then I used the incantation, "scourgify" with my magic cotton swab wand.

It is always best to start with the least of the cleaners and more work on your part, than a harsh cleaner with light work on your part. You want to clean, but not damage. And remember, some patinas are important to not only the value but aesthetic of the piece. When in doubt, do a little research by searching on Ebay, Etsy, and Pinterest for what you are debating to see what the current trend is.