The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-03-10
TO CLEAN OLD pORTr, ATS
use " Raw Irish Potato, Tcpill Wat
CIR, Sponge and be Cureful.

Use :" Raw Irish Potato. Tcpid Wat
cr. Sponge and be Careful.
If people knew what an easy. task it
IS to clean portraits and oil paintings
they would never let them hang black
ana colorless on their walls. In nine
cases out of ten pictures painted bv the
last generation! of artists owned bv nri
vate collectors or individuals have AL
most entirely lost their beauty by be-
lng coated with dirt and smoke. Either,
OF the following methods can be used
by any careful person without fear of
injury to the. picture, and in many
cases will restore it's surface to it's
original freshness and brilliancv of
color.
AS this is the simplest method, it is
Well to try 1T first. Take the picture
IRON its frame and lay it on a large
table, face upward. Have a bowl of
tepld water and good sized sponEe in
readiness. Peal a large white potato
ana cut it in half. Then, with the
sponge and water, go carefully over
the entire surface of the picture. In
case 1t is badly: cracked, as so many
old paintings are, let the sponge be
fairly dry, for, if the water should ooze
under the paint, it might crack more
Now take the potato and with the
smooth side go over the entire surface
while it is wet Do not scrub hard.
as that is apt to stretch the canvas
and necessitate it's being taken off the
stretcher. The. potato should move in
circular motion, which should be
kept up until the canvas is in a lather.
The dirt will soon begin to soften and
make the lather quite black. Keep
rubbing until all the spots and stains
disappear, and then wash carefully and
very thoroughly with tepid water and
the sponge. ,&.f + !"
Unless the dirt has been Vanished
in a picture it will usually readily re-
spond to his treatment, but in case
It will not the GLOWING method is
almost sure to give the desired result s
Double a heavy blanket twice and
sprinkle it freely with alchohol; then
turn the picture, in its frame, face
downward over it. The fumes of the
alcohol will soon begin to rise and
loosen the dirt; it will also clarity the
varnish and give it the appearance of
having been just applied. The picture
should be kept over the alcohol until
the spots have disappeared from its
surfae, and left it fresh and bright in
DIOR. The portrait should then be
sponged with tepid water. and placed
! where it will dry slowly. Never use
any soap on an oil painting. 1t may
| remove the dirt, but the chemicals in
ut are sure to GO damage, though the
immediate result may be very pleasing.
Many a good picture has been ruined
by soap and scrubbing brush.
After picture has been cleaned it
should be vanished with picture var
| nish. This should be applied with a
tristle brush, Put a little varnish on
the picture and spread it quickly, be-
ing careful not to go over the same
place twice. Sometimes the varnish
will creep but by breathing on the
canvas and then following quickly with
the brush, it can be made to adhere.
The picture should be left f1atEon a
table until, the varnish is DRY.
| In case the canvas has become loose
on the stretcher it should be re-
stretched by person who under
| stands the handling of canvas, as this
requires professional hand.
The care of pictures is thing that
few people understand. Hot rooms,
! gas, dust, smoke, and steam heat are
all the enemies of pictures. More often
than not they attack them from the
back. A picture will often have the
appearance of being in perfect condi-
ton from the front side, when the
back has been almost entirely destroyed
by moths or some form of decay. This
may be prevented by coating the back
Of the canvas with a thin wash of
white lead.-Washington Post.