Sarah,

There are so many things that have to be known about this before giving you
more than general advice. Is the sculpture fragile? Is it stained, painted,
or coated? Is is dirty? If so, what is on the surface? And so on. Cleaning
is not some generic thing that applies to all objects equally. In cleaning
there is always the potential to remove things from an object as well as to
leave residues behind - so you really have to understand the object, the
"dirt", and the materials to safely do that.

You can do a gentle vacuuming to get dust off the surface (use a soft
bristle brush and brush into the nozzle of a vacuum (the nozzle should be
covered with sheer nylon). If you have a variable-speed vacuum then use that
at lower volume.

I would advise you to call and consult a conservator who you can send
digital photos to with all the information on the piece so they can help
you.

Go to the AIC website:
http://www.conservation-us.org/

And click on the link for "Find A Conservator" - you can search for a Wooden
Artifacts conservators in your region.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator and Museum Consultant
Los Angeles, CA


On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 11:34 AM, Sarah Faford <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>  Hi everyone,
> Does anyone have any recommendations on the safest way to clean an oak
> sculpture? We are getting ready to put it on display (after several years of
> being in storage) and would like to get it cleaned up first. We are on a
> limited budget, so any suggesstions that are concious of that will be very
> appreciated.
>  Thanks,
> Sarah Faford
> Curator of Collections
> Kankakee County Museum
> Kankakee, Illinois
>
> ------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).