How to clean old oil paintings

Do you have an old oil painting lying in your backyard which you suspect looked good many years ago? If you observe those old oil paintings, you'll find many black spots - they are the black lead sulphide, which is the result of the reaction between airborne hydrogen sulphide and the paints.

You can easily remove those black marks and get a modestly fair painting from your old one.

Things you'll require:

1. Cotton wool
2. Hydrogen peroxide solution (Can be found at medical stores)


How to do it:
Soak the cotton wool in the hydrogen peroxide solution and rub it gently all over the paint. The discolored and black spots will go away.


Why? Lead sulphide is oxidized by hydrogen peroxide to colorless lead sulphate, which removes the spots.

This is just a very basic method and should only be used for educational or fun purposes, never for recovering serious paintings.

Previous post: Homemade carbide lamp (acetylene lamp)

Homemade carbide lamp (acetylene lamp) with household instruments

Acetylene lamps, called carbide lamps are the primary sources of light in many rural shops. Though they use a different type of setting(that is like a very crude form of Kipp's apparatus), but ours is still good and when you get experienced, you can even generate enough acetylene to survive a little power cut.

Enjoy and don't burn anything!

Items you need:

1. A used jotter type refill

2. A small(4-7 inch long) glass bottle

3. A cork/rubber cap that fits into the mouth of the bottle

4. Calcium Carbide(Commercially known as carbide), available at lime(quick lime) shops at local markets or chemist shops.

5. Clean water

6. Matches

Procedure:
First of all, punch a hole in the middle of the cork/rubber cap. Take the refill and remove its tip with tongs or something alike. Remove the back plastic of it, too. Now blow from the back to get the remaining ink out of it. Wash it well and insert into the hole of the bottle cap.

Now pour a little (1-2 inches) water into the bottle, drop 2-3 tiny pieces of carbide. You will immediately see a gas forming with bubbles and the water getting turbid.

Now put on the cap and hold a lighted matchstick/lighter on the end of the refill. The acetylene will glow with a very luminous flame. The flame is so bright that it is sometimes difficult to stare at it.

HAZARD: Air and acetylene mixes to form a very explosive mixture, so give some time between adding carbide and lighting fire to let all the air go out of the bottle, or it may explode. 15-30 seconds will be enough.

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Previous post: How to clean your silver articles

How to clean your silver articles

What you'll require:
1. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda powder)
2. Sodium chloride (common salt)
3. Aluminium pan

What to do:
Place the silver articles to be cleaned in an aluminium pan in such a manner that each article touches the pan. Cover these with hot solution containing one tea-spoonful of Sodium bicarbonate (the baking soda) and another of Sodium chloride(salt, NaCl) per 250 ml. of water. After a few minutes, remove the articles, rinse and polish with a soft cloth.

What happens:
Touching the aluminium and surrounded by the electrolyte the silver article forms one plate(electrode) of an electric cell. By action of this cell, the tarnish of Silver sulphide is dissolved, the sulphur is separated and the silver is redeposited.

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