Any ideas on cleaning painted vintage silk?

Dan Larson

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Posts
11
Loc
Goffstown, NH
We've got a vintage piece of silk with a portrait on it painted during WWII. It's pretty dirty and our customer is asking us if we can clean it at all. Well, I'm in the framing business, not the fabric cleaning business, so I was hoping some of you might have come accross something simlar to this before.

Problem: The customer has NO IDEA what kind of paint was used. And, I can't tell either. Most likely, it's oil. But there's no guarantee.

Any help you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to the Grumble, Dan - I'm sure you would be able to find a conservator in your area who would be able to accomplish this task. It sounds like a sentimental treasure, if not a Roadshow classic, and even I would not touch it with a ten foot pole (or a Q-tip!).

If you have trouble finding a conservator - perhaps Hugh or Rebecca (our resident experts) could help put you in touch with one.

Your customer will be grateful for such a caring suggestion - which is much better than an angry customer if you try to clean it and something disastrous happens to the piece. Silk is especially delicate when it is old - it "shatters" easily.

I think nowadays Antiques Roadshow has used the phrase "Take this to a conservator" enough times in prime time that your customer might not be too surprised if you say, "I have found the perfect expert for you, and when it is all nice and clean, bring it back and I'll frame it for you."
 
Take Framar's advice -- consult a conservator. If your customer doesn't want to go to that trouble, you may want to sub-contract the work to a conservator you trust. Our own Grumbler/Conservator, Rebecca, for example.

Conservation treatment is well worth the cost, for items of sentimental or monetary value.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. While I've been framing for a few years now, this is the first time I've come accross something like this. I knew it was something *I* didn't want to touch, but I wasn't going to say no to my customer. I'd rather make the effort to find out the cost to have it properly cleaned and then take care of that for the customer (as part of the price of course) and deliver a finished product.

Thanks again for you help and I'll definitely be hanging around contributing as much as I can.
 
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