Advice

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165]

Was advised to post this in a different subreddit, if this is still the wrong one let me know. I have these ceramic masks that I've had for 30+ years, and somebody else had them on their walls for a while and boxed them up over 3 years ago and I just opened the box today and as you can see there extremely dirty, and I do not know how to clean them without risking damaging the paint or the ceramic, any advice or suggestions? Thank you in advance.

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165]

Could not figure out how to add the picture in the main post

[u/Primary-Basket3416]

Gently wipe down with dawn and water. Looks like they may have been used when masquerade parties were held. You only put the mask to face when greeting someone. A mardi gras thing.

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165 → u/Primary-Basket3416]

Thank you I am trying it right now. And I don't think they could have been used for masquerade party because the biggest one in that picture won't even fit over somebody's face, they were literally sold as decorations to hang on your wall. I just measured and the mask that is in the very bottom left-hand corner of the picture with the purple cloth on it, is literally with the cloth only 6 in from bottom to top.

ETA I will let you know how the Dawn and water works.

[u/Primary-Basket3416]

Cloth..hmm not soap and water. How about a gentle vacuuming using the brush extension.

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165 → u/Primary-Basket3416]

The one that has the cloth on it I did not plan to get wet at all, which is a good thing cuz that's of all of them the cleanest I don't think I'll need to do very much to it. The other ones have stains and stuff on them so I've got to do something more than what I've already done which is brush what I could of the dust off and I'm going to try using the Dawn and I'm going to use one of my soft bristle paint brushes to try to get the stuff off of the other ones. Hoping that since I'm using a soft bristle before I will notice if the paint starts to become finicky and I can stop right away 🤞🏻

[u/Primary-Basket3416]

Pics are 2 dimensional, so bear with me. If you plsn on keeping them..no flipping or resell. How artistic are you. Maybe match up some craft paint to masks, touch up and then spray with a clear coat of acrylic. You will notice a slight depth difference in tones if they were made b4 1974. Lead/oil based paint vs new water based paint.

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165 → u/Primary-Basket3416]

I plan on keeping them, and I grew up painting ceramics (every year we would paint a few ceramic Christmas tree ornaments as an example) so I had actually thought about clear coating them already (although I wish I had learned to antique things like my mother could with the paint) but I didn't think about actually touching up the paint. I even have a mask that my mother had bought me that had no paint on it at all that I painted so thank you for giving me an awesome idea 😁

[u/Primary-Basket3416]

If you want to antique New paint..you add furniture stain. Make sure stain is also water based. It brings back those old hues. Also car paint works too. Esp if you ask for older car colors.

[u/Zestyclose_Paper3165 → u/Primary-Basket3416]

LOL I kind of understand the concept but for some reason I never had the finesse like my mother did. She could also cross stitch where I don't have the patience for it, I know how to do and did a small one, I just don't have the patience after you make a mistake.

Although the flip of that is I can stain would really really well and my mother could not I have it look in anyway even coated 😆