Abacus
Antique Dealers: Proper care of antiques: How
not to ruin them
While
no one would go about ruining antiques deliberately,
sadly many newcomers to the word of antiques do this
through sheer lack of knowledge believing they are
taking excellent care of the item and only realising
there is a problem when it too late and the damage
has been done. In order to ensure that you don’t
make the mistake here are some tips on how to not
ruin your antiques, but rather take good care of them.
The
biggest mistake that the majority of newcomers to
the world of antiques make is using improper cleaning
methods for their antiques. Not only this but some
antiques do require cleaning in order to look their
best while others don’t benefit from a clean
and doing so reduces their value considerably. This
is especially true when it comes to cleaning antiques
of brass, cleaning can ruin the patina from a very
old piece and so can cause you to lose large sums
of money and ruins the item. Before you reach for
the cloths and soapy water make sure you have learnt
everything there is to know about that particular
piece.
When
it comes to refinishing antique furniture then this
again is another mistake that most beginners to antiques
make. While some furniture needs refinishing some
pieces can be destroyed in the process, if for example
you were to stumble upon a very rare masterpiece then
removing the original finish from the item would quickly
turn it into just another nice piece of old furniture.
Always read p on antique furniture and ensure you
know what the piece is before attempting any refinishing
work on the piece.
Be
very careful where you place your antiques, if they
are placed in direct sunlight and are left for long
periods then this can result in discolouration and
staining. Always mover the item around so that sunlight
isn’t just falling on one particular side of
the object and if you are collecting paper or vintage
textiles then keep them out of sunlight at all costs.
Never
ever go into restoration yourself unless you know
without a doubt what you are doing, many a valuable
piece has been destroyed by those who have turned
to restoration themselves without truly knowing how
to go about restoring the piece back to its original.
When
storing antiques always make sure that you learn how
to take the best care possible of them before putting
them away, if you haven’t the knowledge of how
to store a particular piece then you could ruin it
without even realising it and its value would diminish
rapidly.
Before
going into the world of antiques read and learn everything
possible and what to look for when buying an antique,
how to clean and care for it, how to restore it and
how to store it away for safe keeping. Information
is the most valuable tool an antique dealer can posses
and it is imperative that you think before touching
otherwise you could be left holding a very pretty
but worthless item.
