Cleaning of Acrylic Painted Surfaces

Works of art made with modern acrylic paints can present difficult technical problems if a cleaning treatment is necessary. Due to the physical properties and composition of acrylic paints, dirt or grime can become tenaciously adhered to the surface. Scientific research and collective practical wisdom have yet to coalesce into methodologies for diagnosis and problem solving.

This workshop series sought to address this by integrating emerging scientific research with the latest perspectives on cleaning technology within art conservation.

• A 2009 colloquium at the Getty Center invited eighteen instructors and participants—conservation scientists and conservators from institutions and practices in the United States and Europe—to critically evaluate current ideas and practices related to the cleaning of acrylic painted surfaces.
• Six workshops held from 2011 to 2017 in New York, London, Washington D.C., New South Wales, Ottawa, Sarasota, and Hamburg featured 114 participants, from institutions and private practices. Each of the three-and-a-half-day workshops included lectures covering recent advances in the cleaning of acrylic painted surfaces, hands-on sessions to test cleaning materials and approaches, and group discussions to discuss materials, techniques, applicability, and effectiveness.
• Two workshops were held in 2018, one at the Instituto de Investigaciones sobre el Patrimonio Cultural of Universidad Nacional de San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the other at the Conservation Science Laboratory of the Center for Conservation & Restoration of Cultural Properties at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Each aimed to directly engage conservators with the current research on identifying a broader range of cleaning systems and methodologies for acrylic painted surfaces.

Works of art, both two- and three-dimensional, made with modern acrylic paints can present difficult technical problems for conservators if a cleaning treatment is necessary. Because of the physical properties and composition of acrylic paints, dirt or grime can become tenaciously adhered to the surface. Most artists' acrylic paints, even when dried and aged, can be very sensitive to aqueous cleaning solutions, while nonpolar organic solvents are often lacking in cleaning efficacy. In addition, there are a number of areas of uncertainty in the field related to the degree and significance of the effect of cleaning treatments on the original paint components.