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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;techbiker, post: 4467633, member: 60629&quot;]A couple months ago I won an unsigned 1870s 9&quot;x15-1/2&quot; oil seascape on millboard in original gilded frame on Ebay for about $70. The seller apparently found it discarded on the side of a road in upstate NY. While seller was able to touch up the frame, the thick grime on the painting itself rendered it nearly too dark to display. I took it to a conservator who quoted me about $2100 for a clean and varnish.</p><p><br /></p><p>I had nearly lost hope when I found a fantastic conservation supplier in California. They sell a great conservation guide and a variety of cleaners/conservation equipment. Also watched a bunch of Baumgartner videos on forum members&#039; recommendation. In total I used 3 different conservation cleaners at a variety of strengths and about 200 custom cotton swabs for cleaning. For varnish I used a 3:2 ratio of matte:gloss Regalrez varnish.</p><p><br /></p><p>While some grime was too tightly bound to the paint, the vast majority did lift off after hours of patience. I erred on the side of caution to avoid lifting up paint. The difference is almost shocking, especially with a clean frame! It feels great to remove over a hundred years of cigarette, coal tar, etc. Note that I don&#039;t recommend DIY cleaning valuable antique paintings!</p><p><br /></p><p>Do you have any cleaning stories?</p><p><br /></p><p>Some progress pics:</p><p><br /></p><p>Before (conservator tested the top left):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]386315[/ATTACH]</p><p>Top left partially cleaned:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]386316[/ATTACH]</p><p>All clean:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]386317[/ATTACH]</p><p>Varnished/in frame:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]386318[/ATTACH]</p><p>Reverse:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]386319[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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