In an effort to preserve the luster and beauty of your bronze sculpture, clean and wax it regularly.
1. Wash dust and debris from the piece with a milddetergent
(Joy dish washing detergent is fine) or a conservators soap. If your piece
has felt on the bottom of the stone, be careful not to get it wet.
2. Rinse the soap thoroughly from the piece
and wipe dry with a clean cloth or let it sun dry .
3. Using a round, natural bristle brush or
a simple chip brush, and a side to side motion, apply a thin layer of wax and allow it to sit. A professional wax such as Renaissance
wax from London is wonderful. It can be ordered from J-SACS @ 1-800-732-7203 but, should you opt for this route, the piece
should be very warm or it will be hard to spread the wax. Though Renaissance is ideal for the initial waxing, I would suggest
a bowling alley wax from your local hardware store for maintenance waxing. It is softer and easier to work with.
4. Just before the wax has dried, begin buffing
the surface of the sculpture with a buffing brush. (A shoe brush is great) Put muscle into it! The wax should feel slightly
tacky to the touch. If the wax is too wet, it will clog the buffing brush and will not buff to a shine. If the wax dries thoroughly,
it will be difficult to buff out and will leave white flakes. Some areas are bound to dry before you get to them. For this
and for hard to reach areas, buff with a firm toothbrush. Keep the drying time in mind for larger sculptures. You may want
to start with one section, move to another and then return to the first area for buffing, and so forth.
5. If your piece is an outdoor sculpture,
repeat steps three and four for two coats of wax.. One coat of wax is sufficient for indoor pieces.
6. Bring the piece up to a brilliant shine
by polishing it with a soft, clean rag. It is hard to get the same shine simply by buffing, as the buffing brush is loaded
with wax.
Outdoor sculpture should be waxed twice a year,
indoor once a year. It is best to work on a warm, sunny day. The warmth will help to keep the wax soft. The sun will help dry
the wax, and warms the metal, allowing the wax to sink into the surface pores. Many people never wax their bronzes but, if
you do, your work of art will stay gorgeous!
Though the patina will change and your bronze will
darken over time, this is the nature of the material and regular waxing will preserve the lustrous finish for many years to
come.
K r i s t e n V i s b a l
f i n e b r o n z e s c u l p t u r e
Ph: 302-645-9075 kristen@visbalsculpture.com Fax: 302-645-7884
17618 Vineyard Lane • Lewes, Delaware 19958
copyright © 2002 Kristen Visbal