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Do-It-Yourself Picture Restoration

Experts agree that do-it-yourself picture restoration is rarely a good idea. The techniques for restoring a painting are complex and require a lot of experience. Professional restorers know about types of varnish and paint. They also have the skills needed to paint over the repair in such a way that the style matches that of the original artist. A failure to do a good job can destroy the value of a picture. Nonetheless, if you wish to learn about picture restoration at home, first obtain some old and worthless paintings. You can use these to gain expertise.

Things You'll Need

Old, damaged paintings
Onion
Bread
Cotton wool
Washing soda
Acetone
Dammar resin
Beeswax
Palette knife
Canvas
Gelatin
Chalk
Colored pigments
Egg yolk
Varnish
Varnish brush

Instructions

- 1
  Place a soft, thick cloth on a table. Put the painting face down on the cloth. Clean the dust from the back of the painting and frame with a hand-held vacuum cleaner. Pull out the nails or pins keeping the frame in place. Remove the frame from the canvas and turn the painting over.
- 2
  Clean away surface dust with a soft brush. Beneath the dust is a layer of varnish and then the paint. Clean the varnish by gently rubbing half an onion over the surface. Remove any onion juice and residue with a damp sponge. Leave the painting to dry. Another way to clean the varnish is to rub it with the dough from a loaf of bread. When you have finished, clean the breadcrumbs away with a soft brush.
- 3
  Give the varnish a more thorough clean if it is still dirty. Rub with cotton wool soaked in warm water to which you have added a pinch of washing soda. If the dirt remains, add a little more washing soda to the water. Wipe the painting with a damp sponge.
- 4
  Remove the varnish if the dirt persists. Rub the varnish with cotton wool soaked in acetone. Leave to dry.
- 5
  Mix a little dammar resin with heated beeswax if the paint of the picture has flakes or bubbles. Using a brush, soak the flaking and bubbled areas with this mixture. Flatten the flakes and bubbles by pressing a heated palette knife onto them. Leave to set.
- 6
  Repair a hole or tear in the picture by gluing a piece of canvas onto the back. Make the glue by mixing dammar resin with heated beeswax. If there are a series of holes and tears, glue a piece of canvas across the whole back of the picture. Leave to dry.
- 7
  Fill the holes and tears with a mix of gelatin and chalk. Apply with a palette knife. Remove excess. Leave to dry.
- 8
  Paint over the holes and tears to match the picture. Use pigments mixed with egg yolk. This mix is simple to wipe away if you make a mistake. Leave to dry.
- 9
  Varnish the picture in a dust-free room. Use matte or gloss varnish as you prefer. Apply with a specialist varnish brush. Use short diagonal brush strokes from the top of the picture down. Leave to dry.
- 10
  Place the picture back in the original frame. Alternatively, put the picture in a new frame.

Antiquing