After you find a beautiful new painting for that special space in your home, you have a lifetime to enjoy the colors and original composition. However, once the dust settles, literally, it’s time to think about cleaning your art. Taking care of your art starts with where you choose to hang it and extends to how to clean and maintain the quality. Here are a few tips about how to care for your paintings.

Choosing Your Artwork

Depending where you plan to hang your artwork, you can choose the medium that will be the best fit for the physical environment. As you continue reading, you’ll find that factors such as direct sunlight and humidity can influence which paintings you select. For example, oil and acrylic paintings on canvas are very durable, while pastels and watercolors will require framing to keep them protected from the elements.

Framing Your Artwork

Framing an artwork can enhance the aesthetics of a new piece and also plays a huge part in protecting it. Any artwork can be framed either with a frame you select or in collaboration with a professional framer. Whether you need to add a protective cover, such as glass or Plexiglass, depends on where you hang it. You’ll notice that all artworks in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam are framed under protective glass, as the visitors tend to try to touch the art. Since that’s probably not the issue in your home, it’s a good bet that you’ll focus more on framing art on paper under glass to protect it from moisture. Professional framers know that acid-free paper is required for backing art safely. Consider shatterproof glass and UV-filtering options as an added layer of protection.

Avoid Direct Sunlight

You should always protect artwork from sunlight, no matter what medium was used. Watercolor paintings as well as other works on paper are more prone to color bleaching. However, acrylic paintings and oil paintings, although made with harder pigments, are also at risk of fading when exposed to bright sunlight for long periods of time. Make sure you position your paintings away (as much as possible) from bright sunlight and close window shades during certain times of the day.

Placing Artworks in Your Bathroom

It is totally fine for you to hang art in the bathroom. To protect your paintings, having good ventilation is a must. This will help avoid mildew and surface damage. We also recommend talking to a framer about protecting the artworks by sealing the frames properly to prevent moisture from getting in.

Hanging Your Artwork Safely

Great job on finding the perfect spot for your new artwork! Now it’s time to hang that stunning painting. For framed art and works on canvas, your best option is to use a wire that is secured to the back. This gives you better long-term stability than string or a cross bar. One tip is to make sure that a stretched canvas is ‘ready to hang’ when you acquire it, or if you take the art home without sturdy wiring you can ask a framer to help.

Consider the Weight of Your Painting

It is very important to consider the painting’s weight, as well as the strength of the wall where you plan to hang it. For small to medium-sized art, we typically use one screw or a traditional picture hook. However, the challenging part is hanging heavy pieces. In this case, you may need to find the studs in the wall, use multiple screws and use more substantial fixings. Ask your framer for advice and consider hiring someone to assist you.

Dust Your Artwork Regularly

You’ve done a wonderful job so far with positioning and hanging those lovely paintings. However, it doesn’t end there. Every piece of art needs to be taken care of. It will ensure that it looks its best, and will also help prolong its lifespan.

Dusting your paintings regularly is a must. For framed works or pieces that have harder surfaces, you may use a dry and soft cloth. However, for others that have heavy texture or fragile surfaces, using a soft brush is more advisable. You can use a new makeup brush. Just make sure that it’s new and unused!

Do Not Use Chemicals

Using chemical cleaning products or even water is not advisable for artworks. Avoid this as much as possible as this could cause damage to your artwork. Instead, book an appointment with a specialist if you think your pieces need more thorough cleaning. This will help you prevent any irreversible damage.

Check for Signs of Dampness

Dampness is one of a painting’s great enemies. Take down your art a couple of times per year to check the backs for discoloration from moisture. At the first sign of damage, you can make adjustments to the humidity in the room or location of the artwork. One option is to add spacers to the corners of the artwork so that there is space for airflow next to the wall.

Final Words

Caring for your artwork can be another opportunity to spend time enjoying your investments up close. As you dust and inspect your art, you may rediscover elements of your paintings that make them so unique. If you take the time to care for your art throughout the year, it’s very likely that you’ll catch any damage very early which gives you a chance to improve how the painting is hung and reverse any damage. Hopefully, reading this article has helped you learn some important key points on taking care of your paintings. Just keep all these in mind and your art collection will surely last through generations.