So there you have your lovely stained glass piece, hanging in your special window. You remember falling in love with it some time ago, at that craft fair perhaps, or in an art gallery. Or perhaps it was designed and created especially for you! It was special. It “spoke” to you. It said what you wanted to say about who you are, and how you feel (or want to~)… and there it is now, right in your own home.
Ah, when you first hung it up, the afternoon sun radiated such lovely colors on the wall, and if it has bevels in it, well, the prismatic colors reflected all around the room, on the walls and ceiling, and it caught your eye- just when you didn’t even realize that you needed to take a minute from your day to stop, watch and relax. It was beautiful!
Well now, darn! It just seems to have lost some sparkle. Sigh… it has, like everything else, gathered some age, dust and dirt. Time to clean it, to make it shine like when you first brought it home. It is not hard to do and I will tell you how.
You should know that, unless it is in a wooden frame, water will not damage it. The first place to start is, hah! The Gathering Mission ! Fetch any dish soap, find an old toothbrush, an old sponge, some fine steel wool and a few soft rags. Then, after making sure the cats are not suddenly focused on playing with your shoelaces, lift it off its hook and take it to the washing area. (By the way, this is not the time to test for flexibility-be sure to have some support under it as you work on it.)
If it is small, you can take it to the kitchen sink. If it is very big, you might want to use the bathtub. Douse it with warm soapy water and use the sponge to wash the glass. You may notice some “stuff” around the seams. That is likely a bit of glue that has seeped out from under the solder after hanging in the heat of the sun for so many years. Take a toothbrush to those edges. You won’t hurt the solder one bit with a toothbrush.
As for the seams themselves, this is where the steel wool comes in. A light wipe with fine wool on the seams will bring back the shine. The only tricky part here is that, if the seams are copper or black color, you don’t want to rub too hard. The solder is actually silver underneath and the copper or black tone is only a surface patina. You can rub that color off if you rub too hard with the steel wool.
When that’s done (phew!), carefully take the wet piece to a sturdy table and dry it off. If you see a part (or parts) that you missed in the tub, just use the steel wool again. You won’t scratch the glass. Tread lightly on the bevels though, as they can get scratched.
Next, on to the seams! If you have some brass cleaner, like Brasso, follow the label directions and lightly polish the seams with a soft cloth. The copper color will come back like new. If your seams are black or silver you can skip this step.
The last thing to do is, following label directions again, apply a light coat of car wax. Let it dry and with your soft rag, buff the whole piece out and it is ready to re-hang in your window for several more years, looking just like the day you brought it home~.
P.S. If you don’t feel comfortable working with your piece, you can always call
upon your favorite local stained glass artist to clean it up for you~.
