UGallery artist Greg Minah’s work hangs on the left

Design blog Apartment Therapy wrote up a great post about how to clean and maintain artwork and we thought we’d pass it along to our readers. Enjoy!

Dislaimer: This advice is intended for light cleaning. If your art is valuable or damaged you should consider having it professionally cleaned. If you are unsure of how cleaning will affect something remember to test a small hidden area before diving in.

Oil Paintings and Watercolors: Check out this video with step by step instructions for how to clean your oil and watercolor works with A LOAF OF BREAD (not joking).

Framed Artwork: Spray some glass cleaner onto a cotton cloth and then use that to clean your glassed artwork. Lambs wool is excellent for dusting really nice frames.

Ceramic and Glass: Clean these items by hand as you would washing fancy dishware using a 1% soap solution. Toothbrushes help to get into tiny spaces. If you need to get any major gunk, a razor blade held perpendicular to the object can be pushed across it to clean the surface.

Paper, Fabric and Silk: VERY CAREFULLY use an automotive cleaning cloth that is damp but almost dry to remove surface dirt.

Steel, Iron and Aluminum: A soft brush (toothbrush) and a 1% soap solution can be used in most cases. Mild chemicals can be used to remove light rusting.

Bronze: Dust it to keep it clean and you can occasionally apply wax. Don’t try to remove the patina, it is part of its charm!

Marble: Marble is a very sturdy stone so it can be cleaned with various mild cleaners.

Wood and Leather: A slightly damp cloth should take care of most light cleaning. Using a fine paintbrush you can work butcher’s wax (in a can) into wood and leather. Polish it up with a soft cloth. (avoid spray waxes because they contain lots of other ingredients.

Ancient and Valuable Art: Dust it with a fine bristle paint brush and leave it alone.