Another Cleaning Lady And Her Damp Rag!

Perhaps you saw the previous flaking painting that was caused by the cleaning lady wiping down the painting every once in awhile with a damp rag. Well, here's another example! This is so sad because it is so avoidable.

Don't use more than your feather duster to keep webs off. The only thing worse than a damp rag would be to spray the surface first with a cleaner.

Besides causing flaking, damp rags also make varnish layers cloud up (called blooming)... very unsightly.

Can you clean artwork with a potato and onion? This was ALREADY cleaned once!

Can you believe that someone already restored this painting and cleaned it in the process?! I have actually been asked if cleaning a painting's dirty varnish and grime is done with a slice of potato! That's right... I've also been asked if a slice of onion works. (sigh... unbelievable...) Ok, here are a couple of tips besides DON'T use a slice of potato or onion (they'll encourage mold and bacteria in the cracks of your artwork... and they don't work): Don't ever use an off the shelf cleaner (ie 409, Windex etc.). So actually my tip is not how to do it... its what NOT to do if you value your artwork! More artwork is damaged by inept cleaning than any other source of damage! (there sure are a lot of exclamation points in the blog entry... sorry!)


Look at the difference in this varnish and crud removal! Wow... we do this all the time and WE are still surprised to see the beautiful color unveiled and appear from the depths below.

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Book Download Available - Affiliate Program Underway

In last 3 days,  3 Affiliates have signed up with saveyourstuff.com that will help redistribute the "save your stuff message" of emergency preparation info (which I provide to them for free) to about 20 mill in their industries. This kind of info, on a corporate or office level is part of having a Disaster Plan, a mandate of the Homeland Security Dept.

On the saveyourstuff.com website, an expanded 1st edition version of my book, "How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster" is now available for download. In addition (and I'm excited about this) each of the chapters can be purchased and downloaded individually if a customer doesn't want the whole book.

This information of saving and protecting your treasured documents and photos is something people feel at the "heart level" at home or in the office. Would you please send the message of this blog entry (copy and paste the URL... or the entire entry) along to those you know? While most of us are not in the throws of a disaster right now, this info could be greatly appreciated in the upcoming months.

The three new affiliates are:
Homeland Security Outlook (www.hsoutlook.com)
Rayanne Thorn of the Human Resource Industry
SBDC's Informatiuon Clearing House http://sbdcnet.ning.com/

All my best and thanks for sending this message along to others.
Scott M. Haskins

George Washington Is In The House!

By far, the most famous portraits of George Washington were done by Gilbert Stewart at the end of the 1700's. Its kind of cool to see one up close and personal... even better to massage it. We got to put our fingers all over this one by giving it a light surface cleaning, a couple of spots of touch up (inpaint) and a new varnish. Now he's all prettied up for the holidays!

The Cleaning Lady Was Knocking The Paint Off!!!

Can you see where the cleaning lady was knocking paint off when she dusted? Sometimes paint peels up and flakes off in tiny patterns and unless you are looking for them, you won't notice until its too late. If too much original paint is lost, you will loose value. You can always have it repaired... but it may loose value just the same.

Here's a tip for your cleaning lady: Don't touch the art work! Don't wipe down (dust) the frames with a damp rag.

BTW, I like this picture. I'm drawn to the illustration art from back in the 1930's through the 1950's that Norman Rockwell made so famous. This is not a Rockwell but as you can see, there were other great artists.

Watch out for your cleaning lady! Paintings don't like damp rags.

There are several places on this painting that are flaking in small pin point patterns. This is typical of paint layers that are wiped with damp rags... repeatedly. Finishes on frames also don't react well! I cleaned a gorgeous California landscape from the 1920's by John Gamble once upon a time; a $45k picture with coastline and poppies that was otherwise in perfect condition. About 10 years later, it returned to my lab and it was flaking everywhere in these small pin point patterns. A completely avoidable situation not to mention the loss of value. In the case of the painting in this photo, what more dangerous spot to have flaking than the signature!?

Look how dirty this is...

What if you didn't wash you kitchen walls for 100 years? What would they look like? Then add to that, dirty heating systems in houses like coal burning furnaces and wood stoves. THEN, add to that smokers and there you have my best guess on why a painting would be SO dirty! Actually, you could add on top of that multiple layers discoloring varnishes also.

This owner, bought this gray picture because he knew it was supposed to have brighter colors originally and paid a hugely discounted price. His investment in a proper cleaning was rewarded with the great change in appearance that he was expecting.

A day in the life in our lab... fun discoveries!

A Ghost Image

Oohhhh scarry!.. but not for the nightmarish reasons you might think. I harp and harp and harp on NEVER using cardboard to store, mount or come into contact with any documents (paper), photos etc you want to keep. Here's a common horror story: using cardboard as a backing in framing. Notice the imprint of the cardboard (acid burns!) in the back of the artwork. Acid build up in paper makes it yellow (brown... in fact the back of the artwork in the photo used to be white!), become brittle and it accelerates the deterioration by many many times. Its one of my Top Ten Hit List items to avoid. See the rest of the list at www.saveyourstuff.com.

Btw, I have a painting in the lab that is haunted,a REAL horror story. But that's another long blog entry. It'll creep you out if I ever decide to put it on.

A great discovery rewards a smart buyer... after cleaning this painting!

The overall gray color of this painting made it look like it was painted dark and gloomy. But the new buyer knew that this artist usually had much brighter colors. He was very smart, waiting to buy this after it failed to sell at auction for a huge discount. Now, with the cleaning and a new frame, the painting's value should change substantially. Look at the difference between the right side (clean) and the left side (dirty)!!! Wow... we see this kind of change all the time and we are still amazed. WARNING! If you are a do-it-your-selfer, this is not a job for your 409, Windex or your favorite potion. The dark colors are prone to dissolving more easily than the other colors and a half cleaned job would look blotchy and terrible. We are using a rotation of several solvents to ensure safety for the colors while yet removing all the grime and discolored varnish (and maybe some smoker's nicotine mixed in!).

I was asked to speak at an international conference as an author and expert

About 10 days ago, I spoke at an international conference in Merida, Mexico on preparing "small businesses" for natural disasters. The American organization, SBDA and the Mexican organization, AMCDPE work closely together but the conference was attended by representatives from 8 or 9 other countries. The conference was attended by office and program directors of various institutions including governments, universities, non profits and corporations. I outlined for them how my message of "save your stuff" is very important for the work/office place and is an essential part of an emergency preparedness plan, which is overseen by the Homeland Security Dept. If anyone is interested in my content, write me at preservation.coach@gmail.com and I will send you a copy of my written presentation. In the end, I offered to provide free content for newsletters, blogs, and articles and even utilize my publications to help fund raise. For this event, we set up www.salvesuscosas.com for free downloads in the Spanish language.