Safe cleaning and conservation – caring for

your church and its contents

Claire Fry ACR

24 November 2018

St Stephen’s Church, St Albans

Dust

Pests

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/learn/conservation/science/serpentine/insect-pests-historic-houses-poster.pdf

Cleaning

• But…cleaning can also cause damage.

Wood

• Remove dust with microfibre cloth or brushes

• Polishing should be infrequent

– Use good furniture wax – not a spray polish

– Can be buffed with soft cloth/ chamois

• Metal cleaning products can damage wood so just buff metal with a dry cloth.

• Try to maintain a stable humidity.

Metals

• Wear gloves to handle

• Avoid contact with wool, silk and leather

• Avoid damp environments

• Remove dust with soft cloth or brush

• Light tarnish can be removed with a silver cloth

• Heavy tarnish can be removed with silver dip.

• BUT avoid frequent cleaning

Books

• To remove dust from the top edge of a book, hold the volume firmly shut and brush the edge gently from spine to fore-edge using a soft brush.

• Leather ’dressings’ are not generally recommended -these can easily cause a book to become sticky, will attract dirt and may stain.

• The best way to prevent leather from drying out is to control the environment.

Textiles

• Keep out of direct sunlight and keep light exposure to a minimum.

• Remove dust with ponyhair brush or vacuum on very low suction.

English Heritage

Stone

• Remove dust with a brush

• Can wet clean, but best to get advice from a conservator first

Leave conservation to the experts…

conservationregister.com

Managing environmental conditions

Any questions?