Open Forum

Hello!

At our museum we have a large painted mural in the lobby. Guests like taking their pictures with it, however they have been leaving marks on the mural. Can anyone recommend how to remove ink from it? We use ink stamps to mark each visitors' hand when they purchase admission. I believe the mural has been coated with several layers of varnish (?) to protect the surface. The areas are so small I don't want to incur the expense of a conservator if we can help it.

Thanks for the tips!

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Valerie Seiber
Collections Manager
The Hershey Story: The Museum on Chocolate Avenue
Hershey PA
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Conservation is a serious business, hire a professional conservator or leave the object alone!

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Bruce Katsiff
Retired Director/CEO
PA
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Hi Valerie - contact AIC for a conservator in your area - many will do a consultation for free or for a reasonable fee. Since your mural is a favorite part of your collection it needs to be conserved and preserved. The conservator will also be able to suggest ways to protect the mural for the future. Many large murals are framed with TruVue - like a plexiglass only non glare and UV protected etc. I hope this is helpful. All the best. 

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Gurufateh Khalsa
Manager
Siri Singh Sahib Corp
Santa Cruz NM
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Obviously consult with a conservator before trying to remove anything form the mural. 

With that said, what kind of ink do you use for the hand stamps? is it water soluble? Or, You can try rubbing alcohol, it will take off many inks. - again, make sure it wont damage the varnish before you try this.

Better yet, switch to invisible UV inks for the hand stamps, Our hands stamps are invisible unless you shine a UV light on them. Our staff members working the doors / re-entry have little UV flashlights to check the stamps. 

Kids like the "Magic" of the UV light and adults don't feel awkward about inking up their hands. Lastly, there will be little motivation to mark the mural with something invisible.

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Bart Hays
Senior Exhibition Designer
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey CA
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