Taking care of your Mirrors
Antique mirrors need extra care and love as compared to your regular mirrors as these usually have a silver or mercury layer. With time, they gather smudges and blurry spots. Hence taking extra care on a regular basis is very important. Mirrors when hung on the walls make their backsides prone to gathering moisture. The exposure over the years also makes the silver layer deteriorate and begins to peel off. Upkeep of antique mirrors is always a very easy job. While regular maintenance can be done easily, you can always consult an expert to guide you through the process or help you with the restoration in extreme cases.
We give you some tips here about taking care of your antique mirrors using different cleaning agents: Make sure that you clean the glass and not the silvered back of your antique mirror. Avoid the use of any strong chemicals that might damage the glass. A combination of rubbing alcohol and water often works well. Some people make use of baking soda but we strongly recommend not to use this in the cleaning process as any abrasive cleaner which will damage the mirror.
You can alternatively wipe the glass clean with a lint free linen cloth dipped in methylated spirit as well. You can also spray some vinegar over the filmed spot and rub it with newspaper without applying a lot of pressure. Make sure that you do not use vinegar on the frame if it is made of wood. You can also make use of shaving cream with a microfiber cloth to wipe the mirror clean. This will help you take the fogginess away. The cream leaves a coating on the mirror that helps delay the forming of fog for longer. In case the smudges aren’t a lot, you can always stick to regular water. The glass can be wiped down with water that is infused with a few drops of ammonia and carefully wrung out. Always finish the wiping process with a newspaper or a lint free cloth to have a clean glass.
Always be careful about not touching the frame with any of these cleaning agents. Be it a homemade remedy or a store bought one, you may land up spoiling the frame. If the smudges are close to the frame, stick to plain water only. No matter what method you use, make sure that you do not let any moisture go behind the glass as it will cause the mirror’s silvering to deteriorate overtime. In case the damage is too much to take care of on your own, get in touch with us at Cleall Antiques. We also have a fabulous stock of 19th century mirrors that you can have a look at.