by Taylor Anderson

How do you clean a watercolor painting? Watercolor paintings, because of their difficulty to clean, should to be stored in frames with glass, even when not on display. This is simply to keep them from being exposed to the elements and getting ruined.

But what do you do if you have a watercolor painting that was not stored properly? How do you clean it? For obvious reasons you can't use a damp towel or any kind of liquid. This makes actual stains virtually impossible to get out. So what do you do?

Most people would tell you to take the painting to a professional. I would agree if your painting is at all stained or is in any way irreplaceable. However, if the painting is only dusty or has a light amount of dirt on it, don't spend a lot of money getting it cleaned when you can do it yourself for less than ten dollars, using only a loaf of bread and a soft bristled brush.

I heard about this method a while back and I tried it myself. It really works.

Some people would recommend using different kinds of bread, but it doesn't really matter so long as the bread is soft and doughy. When cleaning the painting, the bread will crumble easily and gets dirty fast, so you may need to get more than one loaf of bread, depending on the size of your painting.

Take the painting outside, or put it on a large drop cloth (this procedure is messy). Then, using the bread from the center of the loaf (no crust) dab or gently rub the painting. The bread will pick up the dust and dirt, leaving the painting clean.

After you have finished cleaning the painting, use a soft bristled brush to gently brush away the excess crumbs.

As with anything, remember you do this at your own risk. My personal disclaimer is that it may not work on all watercolors, but it worked for me.

If you can't get the painting clean, or if you just can't bring yourself to try this, below I have listed a few resources you may want to try.

Good luck!

East coast (Charleston, SC) and East (Chicago, IL)
Audubon Art
Southern California (Los Angeles - Temecula)
Restoration By Heart