As one of the most important types of modern sculpture, bronze sculptures can usually give people surprises with their delicate design and long maintenance. Different from stone, bronze is an alloy which combines copper with tin, so that bronze ages and is exposed to the patina. If you want to keep your bronze sculpture clean, you may wonder how to go about it. In fact, cleaning bronze sculptures is a simple task that requires little time.
Before you clean the bronze sculpture, you need to make everything prepared. The things you may need in the process include nylon brush, toothbrush, vacuum cleaner with brush attachment, container for soapy water, bleach-free dish soap, clean cloth, wax (such as beeswax or carnauba), and container for soapy water.
Frist of all, the bronze sculptures exhibit in the garden are easy to be covered with dust, so you need to use a nylon brush to brush the sculpture or toothbrush to eliminate any dust or other dirt which is stuck to it. As for the dust particles or residual loose dirt, you should use the brush attachment of the vacuum cleaner to remove them. After you finish removing the dirt, you can start to clean with water.
The second part is washing. Pour warm water into the container, then add some bleach-free dish soap to it until it becomes sudsy enough. Make a clean cloth dipped in the soapy water, use it to wash the sculpture wholly. There may be some hard-to-reach areas, you’d better use a toothbrush to get into them.
The third part is rinsing. Remember to use clean to rinse the sculpture. If your bronze sculptures are in the garden, you can also to use a garden hose to rinse them, and as for indoor sculpture, you can do it in the sink. After rinsing, just dry the sculpture with a dry, clean, soft towel to remove any residual moisture.
The last part is drying. In the past, a coat of wax is usually applied for the bronze sculptures. You are supposed to dry them on a sunny day so that your sculpture could be put outside and absorb the wax easily. There are many brands of wax for bronze, such as Beeswax and Carnauba. If it is possible, let the bronze garden sculpture to sit for more than one hour before you use a soft clean cloth to buff them.
If the outdoor bronze sculptures are smudged by bird droppings, just don’t worry. Warm soapy water is a good way to soften them, apply some on them and it would be easy to wash them away.
After these simple steps, you can easily remove the patina and make the bronze sculptures as bright as a new one.