Cleaning and Repairing Limoges Porcelain Boxes and Other Items

The exquisitely crafted and hand-painted Limoges boxes splashed with the right hues with apt proportion and precision have unique aesthetic charm. And if maintained and cleaned with care the porcelain boxes made from special Kaolin clay can shoot up in their value too. Although delicate, maintaining the Limoges porcelain boxes or dinnerware is no herculean task. However, it is worthwhile to make a more or less regular regime of dusting the items lightly with a soft cloth. Everyday wiping off the dust will prevent the boxes and figurines to catch dust or get a scratch.

Removing Dirt from Crevices

Although you might have been careful enough to care for and maintain your precious Limoges items, it is natural at times for dust to seep inside the cracks and crevices and get embedded. In such cases, you just need to take a bowl filled with warm water and use a few drops of very mild detergent in it. It is best to dust off the external dirt of the Limoges boxes before dipping it into the soap water.

Wipe and rinse off with a soft cloth or light sponge. You can also wipe off accumulated dirt in crevices using a soft bristled dusting brush, dipping it in the soap water and gently brushing off the dust. The box or piece then needs to be soaked once more in clean distilled water and dried with a soft cloth.

Removing Hard Stains

For erasing off difficult stains, the miniature or even Limoges figurines or dinnerware should be soaked in a padded sink or bowl of warm water mixed with two tablespoons of mild detergent for about 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful to read the ingredients of the detergent ensuring that it is free of chlorine and bleach. You will be able to see the stains gradually disappearing after which the items need to be washed in clean distilled warm water and patted dry.

Repairing Different Types of Limoges Boxes

Your son has just dropped your precious Limoges box and caused a crack on its surface. Do not worry, for such minor cracks and chips can be repaired without much hassle. For this, you need to get some epoxy putty, razor blades or butter knife, artist brushes, cold-cure lacquer and silicon carbide paper of the finest grade.

Once you have all the tools, scrape a small amount of the epoxy putty with the help of a butter knife on the chipped off place. The putty then requires some dampening and smoothening by taking some water on the edges of the knife and pressing it along the damaged area gently. When the putty gets completely dry take some silicon carbide paper to further smoothen it. Take the fine bristled and soft artist's brush and apply a coat of white cold-cure lacquer and keeping the box in a safe place for 12 hours to dry it completely. If some patterns need to be filled up get some acrylic paints of the necessary colors and use them to finely fill the missed cracks with brush sizes ranging from 00 to maximum of 3.

Remember mending and maintaining your Limoges boxes in time helps you keep up their true value and make them some of the most treasured additions to your showcase.

by Marina Chernyak

Limoges Factory

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