Cleaning/washing 18th-19th hand painted ware?

[collector]

Hello

What´s the way of deep cleaning, washing and leave ready for eventual use, hand painted very antique pottery?

Thanks

[TomVerlain]

very carefully

Actually, you really need to look at the glaze. A light overglaze is going to be more difficult to clean than an underglaze piece.

Also, what are you trying to remove ? Dust is actully pretty easy to remove with water and a tiny bit of soap as a surfactant.
Let it soak a bit, and use a cloth to rub a little. Water is the universal solvent.

A "top tip" is to put a towel in the bottom of your sink, so if you drop the piece, it will be cushioned. Also, only one piece at a time.

With any porcelain, you don't want abrasives. If you have a tough stain, you might be able to use stuff like denture "fizzy" cleaners, but you might want to try it on broken or non-important pieces first.

[collector]

Hello. thanks for your answer

Sorry but I don´t know how to see the difference between a simple tiny glaze and an overglaze, as I am completely net to this

Then, as general rule, a mild cream, liquid soap is good for all type of pieces, regardless if they´re hand painted or transfer, or gold painted?

Thanks.

[collector]

I meant "I am completely new to this".

[JBaymore]

Any type of abrasive cleaner used on fired-on gold luster is going to do some damage. At first you won't see it happening..... but it adds up over time. The layers of gold (or silver or platinum) are VERY thin layers. It does not take much abrasion to wear through them.

So make sure that you are particularly careful of those areas of forms.

Also overglaze enamels (a.k.a.- china paint) are very "soft" extremely low-fired glazes that are lightly bonded to the surface of the under-layer of higher fire glazes. So be careful on those areas also, although they are not as thinly applied as the fired gold and silver lusters are.

I have very valuable Japanese pieces with overglaze enamel on them, and I only clean them with a mild soap and water and a soft cloth. Any "patina of age" is considered an asset on the piece.... rather than a defect.

And the tip of the towel in the bottom of the sink and only once piece at a time is a VERY valuable one that was passed on to you. Clearly the "voice of experience".

best,

................john

[collector]

Thanks for your advices. I suppose that the mildest soap I can use with gold luster and delicate glaze is PH neutre soap?

Thanks