How to care for paintings?

A new acrylic or oil painting is now a part of your apartment or house? It’s a beautiful thing to have a painting in your interior. It transforms the space and creates a unique atmosphere of luxury. However, to preserve its beauty for as long as possible, the painting should receive proper care. What kind of care recommendations do decorators and artists offer? What should be done first and foremost and what should be avoided? What is the difference between acrylic and oil paintings in terms of care? You can find the answers to these questions in our guide.

How are paintings kept in museums and art galleries?

Museums and art galleries are peculiar examples of how paintings should be looked after at exhibition halls. That’s why it’s worth paying attention to them. What are the most important factors they consider? Lighting, climate, room fumigation, temperature, and humidity play a big role when it comes to storing paintings or antiques. Special equipment is often used for this purpose. Unless you pay attention to the above-mentioned factors, mold and other problems are inevitable.

The following criteria should be taken into account when choosing a painting:

• Acid-free (or archive) paper
• Non-woven Tyvek fabric (for transportation and packaging)
• Restoration soap for safe cleaning of oil paintings
• PLEXIGLAS, a special acrylic screen designed to protect wall paintings

What shouldn’t be done with paintings?

1. Wash with water. Moisture reduces the adhesive properties of the primer and paint layer and destroys them. This eventually leads to a loss of paint brightness and appearance of mechanical damage.
2. Clean with dry or damp dust cloths / soft bristle brushes. Rag threads or stiff lint brushes can catch on the protruding areas of paint (especially oil paint) and scratch the surface of the painting.
3. Hang over a radiator, a fireplace, or another source of heat, soot, or cinder. The heat dries the painting material, accelerating the natural aging process. What’s more, the hot air carries the dirt with it, which will stick to the canvas. As a result, the painting will permanently darken and change its tone (that is especially true for paintings that are not primed and varnished). A temperature range of 53 to 77 °F is considered safe.
4. Allow the painting to be exposed to direct sunlight. This will change the color palette and discolor the composition. Given the opportunity, you should use special protective glass to reduce the UV rays damage (consult with a specialist prior to purchase).
5. Smoke. Destroys the painting’s protective layer.

General care and storage tips

Some tips from the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, on how to care for a painting at home.

1. Protect the canvas from dust.
   
   This can be done with a clean, soft art brush with natural hair (the tip should be sized from 1.3 to 2 inches). An important prerequisite for this type of cleaning is that there should be no traces of peeling paint. Brush movements should be slow and careful, in one direction (down or across).
2. Avoid humidity fluctuations.
   
   Low and high humidity, as well as their extreme fluctuations, are unfavorable for paintings. High humidity (above 60%) increases flexibility, which minimizes mechanical damage. However, as a result of that, numerous biological organisms may appear and present danger to the painting (e.g., mold on acrylic canvases). Low humidity (less than 40%) makes the paint brittle and susceptible to mechanical damage. Intense humidity fluctuations are also unwelcome. E.g., because of this, paintings on wooden panels may take a concave shape.
3. Watch the intensity of the light.
   
   To preserve the color palette and avoid fading of pigments in the painting, hang it in a place where it will not be exposed to direct sunlight
   

How do you “tighten” a painting if it’s sagging?

The recommended method is to take it to an expert, who will carefully remove the canvas and re-bind it. At home, this is done by moistening and then steaming the back side of the canvas. However, the second method cannot be applied if we are talking about an antique object of art.

How to care after and store oil paintings

 In addition to general recommendations for care and storage, it is worth highlighting the following.

1.  If the painting was made recently, you can use direct sunlight to “dry it out”. This is the fastest, but not the safest, and also the most controversial way to dry a painting. Artists note that sun rays have a negative effect on the oil layer because of the unnaturally fast drying process (it changes unevenly in volume, provoking the appearance of cracks). This is especially true for paints that contain safflower/poppy oil.
2. For safe storage of the canvas, it is necessary to provide natural ventilation during the first 6 months of its new “life”. It is essential that the main drying process is completed by this time.
3. After a year, all the layers are cured, dry out fully, and the picture is then covered with a special varnish. The varnish preserves the brightness of the composition and has a protective function.
4. When caring for a work of art (cleaning, re-tightening the canvas), never touch the surface of the oil painting. Be sure to hold it by the sides of the sub-frame.

How to store and care for an acrylic painting

1. Consider glazing.
   
   If your picture is framed, you can hide the front side under protective glass (plexiglass). Plexiglass is inserted into the frame rebate and separated from the painting by a wooden overlay (2 to 4 mm thick) or laths attached to the edges of the frame mount. This option can be implemented for small and medium-sized canvases. Massive canvases cannot be glazed because of the increase in the overall mass of the composition.
2. Pay attention to temperature.
   
   Unlike oil paint, acrylic paint is more elastic, so it is much less prone to cracking/flaking. However, acrylic paint is softer and more vulnerable to retention of dirt. At high temperatures (above 86 °F), acrylic paint is more likely to absorb dirt “lying” on its surface. At low temperatures (below 50 °F), the paint begins to become more brittle, prone to cracking and peeling upon impact (even a slight one). Therefore, you should avoid choosing a place where the canvas will be exposed to extreme temperatures (over the fireplace, in the kitchen, or on the outside wall of the house in winter).
3. Adjust the lighting.
   
   High light levels can cause the pigments to fade quickly, so as a rule, paintings should be stored at 200 lx. As was mentioned before, the sunlight is a hazard. It softens the colors and is more than a hundred times brighter than the light level needed for a good view indoors.