Whether you are moving house, renovating, or simply having a change in decoration, you might need to take down and store your paintings long term. Rather than putting your paintings unprotected in the attic and at risk from the elements, it is recommend that you adequately prepare your paintings for long term storage in a professional storage unit. To do this,
- Hire a reliable storage unit.
- Clean paintings with a soft brush or microfibre cloth.
- Protect paintings with protective materials.
- Pack paintings with great care.
Some of theses steps will differ depending on whether you have modern or antique paintings. More often than not, antique paintings will require a bit more care and more delicate preparation — we’ll let you know when this is case.
1. Hire a Storage Unit
First and foremost, you should hire a reliable and reputable purpose-built storage unit. A purpose-built unit is secure; attended to 24/7; climate-controlled; clean and insured. Climate control and cleanliness are the most important factors for storing your paintings long term as fluctuations in heat and condition can lead to buckling, tears, smudges, mould and other irreversible damage.
With a purpose-built storage unit then, you can relax safe in the knowledge that everything you store is far from harm. Not to mention that your storage experts should have years of experience, and will know exactly how your paintings should be moved and stored in these units. This is particularly important if you are storing antiques, as they need to be packed and moved with extra caution and care.
This picture was taken in Stradey Castle in Llanelli, where we removed and repositioned valuable and fragile paintings for a film production.
2. Clean Paintings
Now you’ve secured a spot in a storage unit, it’s time to prepare your paintings. Although this step is not essential, it is a good idea to clean your paintings. If there is dirt and dust on them before storage, this might get worse and cause permanent damage over time.
To clean your paintings, you should dust the surface to remove residual dirt, grime, and dust. This can be done with a brand new and clean soft hair paint brush, which you use to softly brush the surface of the canvas, always in the same direction and without any pressure. Alternatively, you can use a microfibre cloth to delicately remove dust. Avoid regular cleaning products altogether.
Make sure to clean any hardware accents or frames as well, apart from if you have a delicate gilded frame. If you have a gilded frame that is in excellent condition, you might be able to remove dust with a feather duster or cotton swab. However, most gilded frames will need an expert conservator to preserve their condition.
In fact, if your painting is antique, valuable or sentimental, we suggest that you hire a paintings conservator to do this whole step for you. Don’t risk ruining your art if you are not 100% confident in your ability to clean it without causing damage.
3. Protect Paintings
Packing your paintings ahead of storage is perhaps the most nerve-wracking step. This is because, when you prepare your canvases for the move, you need to ensure that you minimize contact at all costs. Your hands should, ideally, not come into contact with the canvas at all. This means you need clean hands, without rings, watches and bracelets, and clean white gloves on. You also need to organise a clear and flat space to put the canvas on.
Once you have this clear and flat surface, put down a dust sheet or blanket with bubble wrap or plastic wrap on top. With your clean gloves on, you can then place the canvas down on top with care and wrap it in the protective materials – ensuring your white gloves are still on. Make sure you cover the entire canvas and secure it with protective tape, so when it comes to moving it again, there is no chance of direct contact.
For extra protection, you can use both plastic wrap and bubble wrap, or add another layer with a storage blanket or felt. Some people recommend that you also wrap paintings in a layer of brown paper/parchment paper before the bubble/plastic wrap goes on. Avoid newspaper though, this can mark and stain your artwork.
You should also protect the corners of your artwork. This is quite simple: you can purchase cardboard corner protectors to put on top of the wrap. These can be found in art shops, online, or you can make them yourself with a small amount of cardboard.
For older and antique paintings, be careful of the giltwood: the wood frame that has been gilded or painted gold. If it’s been hung for a number of years, this can become very fragile and brittle and difficult to move. For this reason, it is best not to wrap antique paintings as tight as modern ones, as the pressure of the wrap could cause it to crumble. It might even be best to ask your removals team to do this entire step for you if you have delicate paintings – they’ll have the relevant experience to protect and move your paintings without causing damage.
4. Pack Paintings
Once wrapped, you can place your paintings in a high quality, double-corrugated moving box, made from acid-free materials. For long-term storage, paintings should always be flat and stored upright.
For antique paintings: we recommend a wooden box or crate designed for fine art; art galleries will often craft a specific sized double layered crate to move canvases, which will be wrapped in plastic wrap and sandwiched between foam to keep them safe.
Make sure you label your boxed paintings, so you know what is what. It’s never a bad idea to write warnings on the boxes too; “FRAGILE, KEEP SAFE, THIS WAY UP” markers are a great way to let your storage team know to take extra care.
And that’s it! Sit back, relax, and let your movers take care of the rest.
To find out more about our removals, antique removals and storage services, head to our website or contact Nathan.
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Written by Holly Charman, for Falconer Removals.
