How do you remove varnish?

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How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 9:39:57 AM

platypus

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Well I've finally unearthed a bunch of my old paintings (they'd been lost for YEARS) and have found to my dismay that the varnish on some has yellowed terribly. I did these back in the 80's & am not sure what I used, probably damar varnish I guess.

Even though some of them make me cringe a bit to look at, I'd still like to get them cleaned up - remove the varnish & reapply. Can anyone tell me how to do this?

Thanks!

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:06:11 AM

swirlygirl

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I have no idea - but what kind of varnish are you using now anyway?

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:20:51 AM

Vfem

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Ohhh... I have no suggestion for that! I remove it with nail polish remover when I've spilled it, but that would remove the paint from a painting too....

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:29:37 AM

insiderart

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Do you have "The Artist's Handbook" by Ralph Mayer? It's a must have tome of information like you need.

The section on removing varnish is 7 pages long...

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:35:38 AM

platypus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: insiderart

Do you have "The Artist's Handbook" by Ralph Mayer? It's a must have tome of information like you need.

The section on removing varnish is 7 pages long...

No I don't, you're frightening me with this talk of 7 pages of varnish removal! I was just going to go over it with some turpentine.

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:39:27 AM

platypus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: swirlygirl

I have no idea - but what kind of varnish are you using now anyway?

I use damar retouch varnish & then regular damar if I still have the painting. I just looked it up & damar isn't supposed to turn yellow, so who knows what I used. Back then I was using an ancient set of paints, mediums, etc. that I'd inherited from somewhere. Maybe it's copal varnish, I'll look that up.

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:43:20 AM

platypus

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Geez I just looked up how to remove varnish, I'd be better off repainting it. Can you paint over a varnished painting?

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:45:40 AM

Harlan

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There is a product for removing old varnish - I'll have to go look up its name - the only thing I remember off hand is that it is milky white (and works well).

Winsor Newton's Artist's Picture Cleaner

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 10:50:01 AM

platypus

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Thanks Jeanne!

It's not that good a painting to jump through hoops over, but I'll definitely give that a try if I can find it.

It's funny, this is a painting that we used to have in the dining room but it scared my son so I had to put it away. I guess it would have gotten messed up even if it was still out, but it wouldn't have been such a shock.

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 11:27:52 AM

Harlan

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From another site: http://www.restoration-advice.org/Pages/paintings.html#Remove-varnish

This varnish layer is removed, with a pad of cotton wool dipped in methylated spirits, to prevent the methylated spirits from working to deep into the paint, a second pad of cottonwool, this one dipped in turpentine is at the ready to arrest the workings of the methylated spirits.
As this cleaning has a dessicating action upon the paint, most restorers dilute some linseed oil into the turpentine to alleviate this problem.

There is a lot of advice out there on the web. If it isn't that important a painting - go ahead and try cleaning it yourself. If it may have some real value it probably would be better to have a professional do it.

If you decide to do it - WORK IN A WELL VENTILATED SPACE!!!!!!!

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 11:32:23 AM

labeana

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I had a friend years ago who was a painting restorer....and I watched once as he showed us how he worked....there are only so many solvents and they work with different varnishes, so he had to check each one out on a small corner of the painting first to see how it worked....then he would make his decision and go from therre....it was pretty amazing too....he was well known and respected in central Florida so he had some magnificent paintings hanging around that he was working on...really beautiful and old....in fact, my mentor, Maury Hurt, did in painting for him, which means he had to recreate the pallettes of old masters to match them exactly to touch up areas that had been lost of ruined....that was how he was influenced and turned from surrealism to painting like Flemish old masters....he had some lovely ones to study that way....
funny how things go....

anyway....I don't have a clue, Vickey...lol....just passing on some stuff I experienced.....

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 4:36:51 PM

platypus

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Well I ran out & bought a bottle of Winsor Newton's Artist's Picture Cleaner (they happened to have one left at the local art/frame shop). Unfortunately it didn't do doodley-squat other than stink up my house.

It's not that great a painting - I do like it a lot but not enough to jump through hoops for. If I do anything else with it, it'll be to paint over it.

I guess this is a good argument for not using varnish at all, the places I missed (which is why it looks so bad, it's streaky) look fine.

Does anyone know if you can paint over varnish?

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 6:08:00 PM

Harlan

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OKay it should have worked. Did you give it time to dissolve the old varnish?? Maybe try methylated spirits instead??

It really isn't worth painting over an old oil painting - there are a lot of technical issues involved.

One of the problems with painting over varnish is there could come a time when the new painting needs to be cleaned and that layer of varnish dissolves and the new painting falls apart.

If you are determined to use that canvas and can't get the old varnish off with methylated spirits, you could sand it down real well, use the spirits and sand it down again. It isn't worth all that effort.

And it is very important to varnish an oil painting - but it is better to brush on the varnish (sponge brush is my favorite method) instead of using a spray. You get a more uniform coverage, it's a thicker layer that provides more protection and also makes it easier to remove when the time comes.

< Message edited by Harlan -- 2/6/2009 6:10:39 PM >

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 7:15:26 PM

platypus

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Jeanne,

No I confess I didn't give it time to soak in, maybe I'll just wait until I can leave it outside with this stuff on it for awhile, maybe in the spring. After I clean it is it still going to smell?

Thanks for your suggestions!

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/6/2009 7:27:13 PM

Harlan

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No, it shouldn't smell after you've used it and cleaned up afterwards - the solvent should evaporate and so should the odor.

I've only used the stuff on one old painting and it worked pretty well - but that had a good coat of varnish so I could tell right away that is was doing something.

Hope it works out for you!!!

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/13/2009 9:33:47 AM

KingDavid

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Yes ... totally against spray varnish. Gets so spotty. I will also be trying to remove some varnish from 6 yo pieces over my signature. Since I've adopted my new brush name, I plan on taking off my old signature & replacing it with the new one. I will only be doing it to about 8 pieces .... the one's I really love.

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/13/2009 12:26:50 PM

platypus

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This wasn't spray varnish, I don't even know if I had it back then.

David, what are you going to use to remove the varnish on your old work? What kind of varnish did you use?

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/13/2009 9:36:13 PM

KingDavid

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To tell you the truth, the one's that I am talking about ... I don't even know if I varnished them because when I do, I use a matte varnish. It's hard to tell. But I am just assuming that I did. But that's a good question ... how do I get the varnish off (I hear echoes)?

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RE: How do you remove varnish? - 2/13/2009 11:04:49 PM

platypus

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I don't know how big or conspicuously you sign your name, but if you think you might not have varnished it, then why not just try re-signing it with your brush name? It could save you a lot of trouble if it works (esp. if you didn't varnish after all).

When it gets a little warmer I'm going to apply the Windsor Newton picture cleaner that Jeanne recommended, but it outside & leave it sitting for a bit. It stank up the house from the little time I tried it.

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