I have this piece of art I really like. I got it about 15 years ago at a thrift store. I'm not sure what you call this style/medium. The only thing I've seen is "folkart".
It is dingy and I want to clean it. Particularly the white fabric background.
I don't remember exactly what I did but at some point I tried spot cleaning and this was the result:
construction:
base: 1/4" hardboard composite with canvas sort of fabric glued on
hardboard I don't know if this term is regional or well known. It's that brown sheet that is often used on the backside of cheap modern furniture, like a bookshelf. It's smooth on one side and rough on the other.
Top and bottom edges are in a groove of wood molding strips; these are stapled on and can be removed
design is made up of little items glued on: beads, small rocks, cord, ceramic
doesn't seem to be a top coat or anything
There's not really any hidden areas to test.
the glue is quite robust, I have been surprised that hardly anything has fallen off.
Any ideas? Hardboard really can't get wet.
I wish I had properly protected it years ago.
I'm not sure how to use water because the structure is composed of hardboard with fabric glued onto it. Not sure if hardboard is a universal term, here is a picture of what I mean:
A closer zoom of the bottom picture showing construction:
The porous, adsorbent side of the board has had the canvas glued to it. How to rinse that?
(Filesize limits on lemmy prevent posting larger photos.)