Weekly Tips for Maintaining, Restoring and Preserving Your Estate Sale Purchases & Personal Treasures

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January 25, 2015

~QUICK TIPS ON CARING FOR YOUR VALUABLES, VOL 1~

Hot Weather Shopping 
When going to estate sales, flea markets and shows in hot weather, think about your purchases while you shop. Heat can damage some types of paintings, plastic, celluloid, and other materials. And remember that your trunk gets hotter than the outdoor temperature. Note: Consider taking along a cooler or a tote with frozen ice packs to keep in your car and storing your heat sensitive purchases in them while shopping.

Protect Art on Your Walls
Be careful how you display prints, photographs, and other art. Damage like fading, discoloration, and brittleness caused by light is cumulative and irreversible. Proper framing should include special glass or a cover that filters out ultraviolet rays. And don't hang any art on a wall that's sunny most of the day. Heat will also cause damage.

Storing Textiles
Don't store textiles in plastic bags. Wrap them in cotton sheets. Do not let the textiles touch a wooden drawer bottom. Wood is acidic.

Care of Heirloom Fabrics
Keep heirloom fabrics like quilts, tablecloths, or christening gowns away from scented candles, cigarette smoke, and cooking smells. They all cause damage.

Your antique textiles don't like bugs. Air out the collection at least once a yea, look for signs of damage from insects. Store in unbleached muslin or a well-washed white pillowcase. As far as textile damage goes, the biggest issue is carpet beetles/dermes-tids. A few of these small mottled beetles that eat natural fibers are quite common. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! If you start seeing them in the bedroom, it's time to do a thorough cleaning of all the storage boxes under the bed! And don't IRON textiles before putting away (they will turn "brown" over long period of time); ROLL the items instead of folding (fold lines get "brown" as well.)

Temperature Control for Antiques and Collectibles
You and your antiques may have different ideas about ideal temperature and humidity. Bronzes and photographs like 40 percent humidity. Stone carvings and oil paintings like 50 percent. Wooden pieces and paper prefer 55 percent. The level should be constant. It can be measured by a hygrometer you can find at a hardware store. Most new thermostats have a setting for humidity.

How to Get a Stuck Ring Off
Try spraying Windex on your finger when you can’t get a ring off and it should slide off. Great tip for hot weather when fingers may swell.
Solo Earring
Did you lose an earring? Wear the remaining one alone. Solo earrings were seen at the Golden Globes this year and at other trend-setting events. You can even find single designer earrings sold in stores. People also use a single earring on gift wrap to make a statement instead of a bow.

Care of Birdbaths
You can keep your antique birdbath clear of algae if you put a few pre-1982 pennies in the water. The copper discourages algae. Friends will probably toss in more coins thinking you have a wishing well. Shoppers throw coins in every mall fountain.

Cleaning Verdigris
Verdigris, the green discoloration that forms on the metal parts of costume jewelry, can often be cleaned off with ketchup.

Remove Sticky Tags
To remove a sticky price tag or instruction label from a newly purchased glass or metal object, try using a hair dryer. The heat should soften the glue and the paper will be easy to peel off. If the sticky part remains, use Goo-Gone or Elmer’s Sticky Out.

Recycle Architectural House Items
When restoring an old house, save all the pieces you remove. The baseboards and shelving are probably made of a hardwood that is very expensive today. The old hardware is wanted by those restoring houses and those who collect doorknobs or hinges to admire, not to use. Carved wooden trim tiles, metalwork and unusual windows are also worth money.

Touch Up Furniture Scratches
You can cover scratches on dark wooden furniture by rubbing them with wet coffee grounds, a commercial touchup crayon available at most hardware stores, or even a dark brown crayon or brown paste shoe polish. Apply with a Q-tip and wipe gently with a soft cloth. Reapply as needed.

Pet-Proof Your Collections
Pet-proof your collections. Cats like to climb on tables or mantels and may accidentally break glass or porcelain. Secure the items with museum putty or QuakeHold. Puppies can chew on the legs of antique chairs. Until they’re trained not to, wrap the furniture legs with cardboard. Hamsters will eat ate cardboard advertising signs. Display your valuable collections in closed cabinets or hanging high on a wall.

Storing Christmas Decorations
When putting your Christmas decorations away, do not wrap ornaments in newspaper. Ink from the newsprint may rub off. Don't store ornaments in plastic bags, either. Moisture may condense inside the bags and cause problems. And avoid very hot, very cold, or very damp storage areas.

Rust Spots on Table Knives
Carbon steel blades used in silver table knives sometimes get rust spots. If you rub the blades with a
bit of Burt’s Bees beeswax lip balm, you can clear up spots and prevent new ones. The beeswax is edible.

Jewelry and Scents
Put on hairspray, cosmetics, moisturizer and perfume before you put on your jewelry. Any fine spray may damage your jewelry pieces.

Room Lighting
Lamps are an important part of a room's design, according to some interior decorators. Don't use just overhead lighting. It is unflattering. Lamps and sconces can soften the look of a room--and many can use bulbs in new shapes or different hues. Look for vintage pieces, but be sure to check the old wiring for safety.

Unstick Stacked Glasses
If two glass water tumblers get stuck when stacked one inside the other, try pouring ice cubes into the inside glass for an hour. Then put both into hot water up to the lower rim. Gently pry them apart.

Cleaning An Antique Rug
Modern vacuum cleaners are too strong for most antique rugs. Instead use a canister vacuum--or better yet, a carpet sweeper. Do not vacuum a rug the long way. Go side-to-side to avoid the fringe. Vacuum the back of the rug about once a year.

Collection Records
Back up your collection records electronically in the "cloud" or off-site, but keep a paper copy as well. Old floppy disk records are not easily read today, and all types of electronic storage may change or disappear in time. So the safest is a printed copy in a safe deposit box. It's a backup to the backup.

Also, if you keep electronic records of your collections or even your purchases of antiques and collectibles to furnish your house, be sure you have a backup that can survive a disaster like flood, hurricane, fire, theft, or other event that could destroy your collection, computer, and other electronic devices. Record your passwords and location of the off-site backup (perhaps in the cloud) and be sure a trusted friend or family member knows what to do in an emergency.

Old Hardware
Should old door hardware be cleaned and gently restored or replaced? The Doorknob Collector magazine reports that collectors have two different opinions. Some say old hardware should never be cleaned, just left in as-found condition. Others say an owner might prefer a new, restored look--although that may lower the hardware's value if it's offered for sale. If you polish old hardware, you remove part of the value. It's like the advice about "original finish" on antique furniture. Replace the hardware if you can't face the hours it will take to restore it.

Lead Rot
"Lead rot" is a problem for owners of lead soldiers and other lead toys. The main symptom is gray dust covering the toys. If it is not removed, the lead will eventually disintegrate. It is not contagious, but it's caused by storing groups of soldiers together, especially if they're stored in new wooden boxes. Store the toys in metal boxes. Keep all lead toys away from children. Nibbling on them can cause lead poisoning. And watch out for metal jewelry from China. Some pieces have a high percentage of lead.

Cleaning Collectibles
Wear a short-sleeved shirt when you're cleaning shelves filled with collectibles like glasses or small porcelain figurines or even large breakables. Long sleeves may brush items off a shelf. To clean items, lay a towel in the sink, dip the pieces in soapy water, rinse, and air dry. Clean and dry the shelves before putting your clean collectibles back.

Keep Silver Tarnish Free
To store silver plate or sterling silver, start with a tarnish-free piece and use a food saver machine to seal them air-tight in the plastic bag. It will keep them from tarnishing and you’ll be able to use them immediately once the bag is opened.

Also, never carve meat on a silver tray; you may scratch the tray. You can buy a wooden board to fit the tray. When not in use, empty silver saltshakers or salt dishes before you wash them and put them away. The salt can clump or eat into the silver over time. Do not ever put silver in the oven.

Removing a Stuck Stopper  
When trying to get the stuck stopper out of a decanter or perfume bottle, remember to use gravity to help. Warm the neck with hot water. Point the stopper down toward a soft landing spot, probably a folded towel, and then try to free the stopper.

 

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