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Old 03-30-2014, 01:24 PM   #1
qz33
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Cleaning Painted Statues

Hello all. I recently got a statue 2nd hand and it has been touched a lot.

I was wondering if anyone had advice about what to remove dirt and specifically oils from painted statues without harming the paint?
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Old 03-30-2014, 04:45 PM   #2
thecollector80
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soap and water. i hope it's sealed.
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Old 03-30-2014, 06:38 PM   #3
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Well it is a Bowen piece but I do not know what all "sealed" would really entail. Water just sounds hard to deal with. Any other gentle ideas?
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Old 03-30-2014, 07:08 PM   #4
gomur
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Quote:
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Well it is a Bowen piece but I do not know what all "sealed" would really entail. Water just sounds hard to deal with. Any other gentle ideas?
I've heard a variety of solutions. Microfiber cloths. Cotton swabs. The soft bristles of a paint brush can remove dust and get to hard-to-reach areas. Some levels of dirt/smudges really need water to remove though. Whenever I use water to clean a statue, I use an air vacuum to dry it off. From what I hear, you don't want use compressed air cans because the freon can harm the paint (but please correct me if I'm wrong, people). I spent some money and purchased a DataVac 500-Watt as recommended by some in the forum. Wish I remembered who they were, so I could give proper credit. It's a heckuva machine!
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Old 03-30-2014, 07:42 PM   #5
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Thank you.
That DataVac looks useful for many things in addition to statues.

I'm mainly concerned with the oils from handling.
What about Isopropyl Alcohol? Seems like it is safe for autopaints. I'm sure folks here have experience enough if I should be warned away from it...
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Old 03-30-2014, 07:44 PM   #6
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Compressed air cans are the best. I use them to clean my collection and for my paintjobs everday.

You really wanna stay away from Isopropyl Alcohol.that will eat through the factory paints eventually
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Old 03-30-2014, 08:27 PM   #7
thecollector80
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Well it is a Bowen piece but I do not know what all "sealed" would really entail. Water just sounds hard to deal with. Any other gentle ideas?
if it's a mass produced statue like bowen i'm pretty sure you can run that under water and some bath soap to wash away the oils since that's your main concern. try washing the foot or hands and you'll see it won't damage anything.
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Old 03-30-2014, 08:28 PM   #8
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You really wanna stay away from Isopropyl Alcohol.that will eat through the factory paints eventually
yup.
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Old 03-30-2014, 10:33 PM   #9
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Thanks guys. I figured if there was a risk with the Isopropyl you guys would know about it.
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Old 03-30-2014, 10:36 PM   #10
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I don't recommend using Windex for cleaning statues. I've done this and the ammonia will eat thru the paint.
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