The college had rather a splendid bronze bust which had, unfortunately, been languishing in a basement for some time. It was to be relocated to a prominent position in the college, but it had to be cleaned. Amanda came to us for advice.

She said,

I have given it a light wipe with distilled water to remove surface dust but there is quite a lot of it which has a kind of fine crust on the surface. It is as if someone has wiped it with a dirty rag (for example containing paint residue) and this has set on the surface. The other thing is that it looks like parcel tape or something has, at some point, been stuck on his face and has, likewise, left a hard adhesive residue.

Our Advice

Our first suggestion was to try a solvent like acetone to remove the parcel tape residue and this worked extremely effectively. The rest that follows relates only to the dirt. Regarding the wiped, crusty areas we recommended trying to clean with some soap and water. If it worked, then to apply a couple of coats of micro-crystalline wax to the surface for protection. We suggested trying a small patch first and look at the outcome before going too far.

Amanda asked

“Is nail varnish remover a suitable acetone or does it need to be a purer version? And, what sort of soap is best to use?”

Our advice was to buy a pure acetone as nail varnish remover often has added components. Although neutral soap solution is always a safe bet, when cleaning a bronze sculpture; it can be ineffective at cleaning stubborn dirt. This means more rubbing of the bronze’s surface is necessary which isn’t a good idea. Diluted Vulpex soap is slightly alkaline, but providing it is properly removed, can be a gentler method.