Portrait Care
Portrait care only requires a little common sense and concern for the
life of your portrait.
Some of the simple rules to follow in the care of your portraits are:
1. Avoid placing your portrait in a sunny area and never place your portrait
in the direct sun. Placing your portrait in an overly bright area can
cause fading and a color shift in your paper. If you have an older photograph
that has already begun to fade, you may want to have a negative made before
any more damage takes place so you will always have this image to pass
along to your children.
2. Keep your portrait free of dust by using a soft, non-abrasive cloth.
A baby diaper is ideal. A build up of dust and soil can dull the finish
of your portrait. If you have a wall portrait, it has probably been sprayed
with a final coating of lacquer for protection. You may use a lightly
dampened cloth (soft only, 100% cotton preferred) to free your portrait
of dirt.
Have a feather duster available for use on your portraits only. One that
is not used for other items in the home so a dust cleaner will not be
present.
3. Do not handle your portrait. The oil from your skin can be most damaging
to the photographic surface. In the event your portrait may become soiled
or even spotted with water (you may have old photographs with water markings),
you may be able to rub away some of this damage. You must use only 100%
cotton balls and Vaseline. Just apply a small amount of Vaseline on a
cotton ball and gently rub in a circular motion. You may clean off the
remainder of the Vaseline with a clean cotton ball. You will be surprised
how much this may help your old photographs.
CAUTION: At any time that your are rubbing and handling your photograph,
do not scratch or rub so hard that you damage the emulsion. The damage
will be irreversible.
4. On some of the newer photographs, you will be able to use a deep cleaner
in the same manner as in section three. You may want to try rubbing alcohol
or plain ammonia for the heavily soiled photograph. After a cleaning you
will want to wash your photograph to remove any residue from your cleaner.
REMEMBER the caution during all cleaning. Once the emulsion is damaged,
the photograph can not be repaired.
info@sherisgallery.com
(615)952-3333; cell (615) 268-7880;
or (800)-689-3945