Like Einion said, a mild detergent will often clean tar and nicotine deposits. I usually use Fels Naptha soap and a soft tooth brush. Just shave off some flakes from a bar and use with tepid water blotting with paper towels as you go. The only problem with using dishwater detergent is it may have other chemicals in the mix. Fels Naptha is what conservators usually recommend.

I would work with the painting upright so water wouldn’t pool. Blot often as you clean and work on small areas at a time.

Again, this is normally a job for a conservator but if it is your painting and you desire to go at it then you should be relatively safe handling it this way. Do not allow the water to pool and avoid soaking the painting.

If the painting was older and the problem happened a long time ago it would be much more difficult to remove, but since the painting is only three years old this treatment should work as the pollutants haven’t had as much time to permeate the paint layer.

Conservators often use human spit (their own), and I’ve tried it on a nicotine stained (well, more like ‘encrusted’) painting, worked like a charm. A conservator at a museum told me it doesn’t have to be wiped after, but I did it anyway, with a lightly damp (water) rag.

Moisten one of those cotton tipped pins in your mouth, and rub gently at painting. Or a wad of fabric.

Like Charlie said, human saliva is often used by conservators for cleaning. It contains enzymes which will remove many things that other chemicals or detergents won’t.

If you ever accidentally bleed on something you can often use your own saliva to remove the stain. If it is your blood then use your saliva… if it is someone else’s blood your saliva will not work anywhere nearly as well.

I believe so Charlie… I used it to clean dried blood off of a mat just prior to receiving a Framer’s Purple Heart for Stupid Maneuvers during the line of framing. Small stains you can often get away with on some surfaces. Doesn’t
always work but occasionally does so it is worth trying.

:thumbsup:

You can clean oil paintings with a loaf of good fresh Italian white bread. Blot or wipe the painting with wads of bread (no crust). I’ve used this technique with oils on canvas and board, several from around 1900, and including two from around 1950 in which the artist incorporated pine needles, twigs and pebbles in a textural gesso base.

The bread has a bit of moisture, and lifts layers of grime while not affecting a sound painting. I wouldn’t use this technique on a painting that had structural problems with the paint layer.

Jim