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Hi all,
cleaning porcelain doesn’t seem to be as big a topic as it is with pottery, perhaps because pottery was used everyday in ordinary kitchens and therefore requires more cleaning? As a pottery collector, cleaning is part and parcel of collecting because many items are badly stained from time, environment and use.
but most porcelain seems quite clean, even very old pieces. However, I do have one Ming bowl which I think could do with a deep clean but I wasn’t sure if it was the done thing.
for pottery, we use hydrogen peroxide soak followed by a long soak in water. Has anyone had occasion to try it? Did you get good results or Is this a big no- no?
Nic
Dera Nic,
porcelain is like glass. Do not fear to damage porcelain, I use any kind of strong agents, like paint strippers for example. Never had problems even in presence of the more delicate enamels like over glaze iron red or gold gilding.
Giovanni
Hi Giovanni,
that’s excellent, thanks. Out of interest, why and how do you use paint stripper?
Nic
Maninly for removing old glue on repaired pieces.
Recently I bought a big vase which had a black substance on the foot, I beleive that it was glued on a base to prevent dropping.
It did look like a sort of tar, very hard to remove. The paint stripper did the job.
Giovanni
That’s really interesting, it had never occurred to me!
Thanks again!
Nic
Many years ago during the 1970's and early 80's I had the good fortune to make a business relationship with Marion Howe (Aka Marion Chait Howe) who ran the Chait Gallery in New York in partnership with her brother Allan. She was the Granddaughter of the firm's founder Ralph Chait. She was a lovely person and always willing to share her knowledge on dating, evaluating and yes even cleaning porcelains.
Back then long before eMail, I would mail her undeveloped rolls of film of things I'd bought that were for sale. On one occasion I sent her images of a particularly dirty Kangxi wucai sleeve vase with figural processions and dragons. She bought it straight away based on the photos. Six months later I was in NYC and stopped by their place to say hello and saw the vase on display. I had sold to her for around $5,500 and it was now for sale for $33,000. This didn't bother me in the least as their store was on the upper East Side at 56th St. thus the much higher price due to overhead. Back then the spread in prices between a far down the food chain New England picker like me and CHAIT was fairly dramatic. In fairness I had bought the vase in a shop in Maine for around $150.
Anyway, I was stunned at how clean the vase had become since arriving in NY. So I asked how they did it. Without blinking Mrs. Howe explained it was all done with "EASY OFF" oven cleaner followed by a good rinse and a one week bath covered in a dark area in 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide (over the counter HP is less than 5%) followed by another week in a tub of clean water that was changed with fresh water every 2 days.
As the vase had no gilding on it, the oven cleaner would do no harm. Gilding is easily stripped by either Oven Cleaner or Ammonia. SO always check. Also, make sure the Oven Cleaner doesn't get sprayed into the HP as it can cause a heating reaction.
Oven Cleaner is particularly effective in removing grime from foot rims and unglazed areas around lids etc. HP is very good at Bubbling out embedded grime in crackle and glazes.
She also told me to watch out for pieces, like vases, that appear to have extensive amounts of NECK Restorations I encountered. These are the ones you see sometimes covered with paint that has discolored over the decades extending perhaps 3 to six inches down the vase. She told me, very often this was done from the 1920's to 1950's by restorers to hide fairly minor hairline cracks around the mouths. Sometimes the hairlines are less than an inch long. Yes sometimes it is the result of repairs being covered up, and other times it's purely cosmetic.
Over the years I've had many of these hairline coverups, by using paint remover and/or a little Acetone/fingernail polish remover and a bath In Hydrogen Peroxide the pieces nearly always come out just fine. An intact piece with a very, very faint hairline is something many collectors can live with on great pieces.
Best, Peter
Peter
Thanks Peter! I had no idea about oven cleaner either!
In the UK, the strongest HP that can be bought outside the beauty industry is 9%. One can get 12% on eBay sometimes. These work well but the time it takes is variable. I know that bleach is a big no-no on pottery, but I don’t know about porcelain. Oxy washing powder is OK in a pinch too.
just soaking pottery in water for a couple of weeks can work well on some items. I change the water regularly as it becomes brown.
i’ll keep an eye out for items restored as you described. I saw something similar recently (see below) but this looks like it’s hiding a lot more than a hairline?
Nic
Hi all:
This is a very useful thread. However, sometimes old-fashioned elbow grease does the trick. I complained in another thread about a vase I won at auction on eBay that had arrived in a filthy condition and that I had given the seller a negative eBay rating because of that. When I opened the package and removed the bubblewrap the vase emitted a large cloud of dust. It appeared as if it might have been used as a planter. The interior was covered with at least a 1/4" thick layer of grime. It also had a lid with perforations, presumably for flowers, and the interior of that was filthy as well. I took a soft brush and some Dawn Liquid soap and immersed the vase in warm water. It took two hours of brushing but after that the vase emerged in immaculate condition. So I would suggest starting with simple methods first. It was amusing that the seller's defense in response to my negative rating was that I had bought the vase as shown in the photographs. However, when one pays a considerable amount of money for an item I think the least one can expect is that the seller might clean it prior to shipping.
Errol
Very useful information indeed. I have no experience beyond soap and water. A majority of the items I buy can be described as filthy. I am cutting and pasting Peter”s post on my notepad for future reference. Thanks! Todd
take it with a grain of salt
Hello All,
Have posted under a different thread a month or so ago that I have found denture cleaning tablets work well in cleaning porcelain. I put 3 tablets in a 5 gal bucket and leave the item or items to soak over night seems to remove most stains and dirt. Helps hide minor hairlines.
Cheers
Michael
Using Denture cleaner makes total sense also, good idea. Also, as a cautionary start, it is always advisable as Errol points out to start with something basic as Dawn Dish Detergent. It may well be all that's needed.
Best, Peter
Peter
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