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.