Hi all,

I'm hoping that someone out there has had some experience
cleaning a bronze fountain. We have a fountain of a cowboy
dumping water out of his boot and there is a white residue
around the basin which I would like to clean off. I don't
know if it is lime deposits or mineral salts but running
distilled water through the fountain in the future isn't a
cost-effective solution to the problem for us.

Our maintenance program has included an annual cleaning with
Orvis soap, a rinse in distilled water, and a waxing with
Johnson Paste Wax. I believe the last time it was done was a
year ago. I scubbed at the white residue but it didn't come
off with the Orvis. There was some CLR with the bronze
cleaning supplies, but I did NOT use it. I've referenced
Patrick Kipper's book, "The Care of Bronze Sculpture" but it
didn't exactly describe how to clean the mineral salts or
lime off. Is it possible to clean? Should the bronze have
some patina work done and then be maintained differently?
Has anyone has a success that they can share with me? Any
thoughts would be appreciated!

Cathy Osterman
Curator of Collections
CFD Old West Museum
Cheyenne, WY

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