CLEANING A LACQUERED YUMI

[watsonmil]

Dear Members,

I recently bought a very old YUMI. The lacquer is dull and filthy. I am sure some of you have had a saya in much the same state. Can anyone advise me if cleaning with mild soap and water would be safe ? What about alcohol. If Ian Bottomley should happen to read this post I would be most appreciative of any advice. Of course I will listen to anyone with experience, and value all responses.

... Ron Watson

[John A Stuart]

The nuri on saya, indeed any lacquered object, is tough as hell. Soap and water in no problem. As to alcohol, it won't hurt a bit. I know, I have drenched many jin in sake and shochu. John

[IanB]

Ron, As John says, lacquer will stand water, acids, alkalis and solvents --- but only if it is intact. It only takes a crack and water will get in underneath. To be safe, use alcohol on cotton wool. If you have patches of persistent dirt and you can see the lacquer under them is sound, wet a cotton bud with saliva and rub it around. The enzymes in spit work wonders. I have not yet found a satisfactory cleaning agent for red lacquer. Our conservation team tried all manner of way to clean up an Ii family helmet done in red lacquer. I have had the same problem with the inside of face masks. The problem seems to be that the lacquer is so heavily loaded with pigment that the dirt is absorbed by the particles rather than being on the surface. The only way I have managed to clean it, and it is drastic, is to use metal polish to cut off the top layer and then seal it with wax polish. You can get away with it once if you are careful but I really don't recommend it.

Ian

[tony edmunds]

Hi Ron

 

I'd agree Ian is the man for definitive advice, but in the meantime, I use olive oil as an initial cleaner for old lacquer, it can often lift tobacco stains( common on Japanese items) and general soiling without any risk to the finish.

Just make sure to remove all the oil, soft tissues will work fine.

 

PS A lacquer dealer in Kyoto gave me this tip years ago.

 

Regards

Tony

[tony edmunds]

Hi Ian

You beat me to it!

I was going to warn against water, if it gets into any cracks in wood based urushi ware it will cause expansion and further damage. I wasn't sure if this was also the case for lacquered metal.

 

Tony

 

PS Are you planning on being at Brum on thre 19th Feb?

[watsonmil]

Dear All,

Thank you for the advice and guidance. The main reason for my trepidation was I once tried cleaning a RED lacquered saya. I didn't ruin it, ... but if I'd have kept up I sure as hell would have. Another question ( perhaps a little stupid as I already have a feeling what your response will be ), .... this is probably an 18th century Yumi. Given it's age ( but good condition ) would anyone dare to try re-stringing it ? I think it will take at LEAST two men to bend the bow. It would be nice to see it in it's usable shape, ... but with wood this old and lacquer this old it would be a shame to break it. As you all know in their resting state they are not nearly so attractive. By the way the bow measures just nicely over 7 feet 2 inches.

... Ron Watson

[cabowen]

I have several old lacquered yumi and my advice would be not to try stringing them unless they are relatively new (10-20 years old).....

[drdata]

I defer to Ian.

 

However, while researching nitro-cellulose lacquer (hard to get Urushi in the US, and I'm allergic to poison oak so afraid anyway) I found that many recommended naphtha (aka lighter fluid) as a safe cleaner and medium to use while wet sanding.

 

Unlike water it does not swell wood and evaporates clean. Used to be able to get in home-dempot, but I think its used for making meth and now I find they stock other solvents.

 

I would first confirm its not a problem for urushi, or course. Seems ok:

 

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publi ... rushi2.pdf

 

"After a technical examination, objects are often cleaned. Cleaning is usually

done with distilled water or a weak detergent mixture and cotton swabs; in some

cases, organiC solvents such as petroleum benzine (Y.M.&P. naphtha, ligroin,

petroleum ether), toluene or xylene are used to remove greasy surface accretions.

Occasionally, the traditional Japanese polishing powder (tsunoko) is used; we have

been using the modern version of this material, made from finely-divided anatase

(titanium dioxide), with some success."

[watsonmil]

Dear Chris, and Harry,

Thank you both for the suggestions and also Chris for the advice. This bow is VERY old and once broken could not be repaired. May I ask Chris how do you display your yumi. Since they are ass backwards as compared to when they are strung.

... Ron Watson

[cabowen]

At present they are in the closet!

 

I have seen them hung on the wall or stood up in a stand like a tachi.....I agree, they have one of the most pleasing shapes imaginable when strung, less so unstrung....

[Bugyotsuji]

For cleaning lacquer I use a magic liquid for cleaning cars. In Japan I use Plexus, plastic cleaner, protector and polish, but the name of the stuff I use in the UK escapes me. It cleans surfaces of glass, ovens, mirrors, cars, etc. Recommended for painted surfaces, plastics, resins, shielding, acrylic resins, polycarbonate, FRP, ABS (poly) vinyl chloride resin, films, CDs, DVDs etc. People are super paranoid about the paint and surface lacquer on their pride and joy, (automobile) so this cannot be too far off. Sadly I do not know anything about the long-term effects, so if you are not sure, please experiment with it on a different piece of lacquer first.

 

I find that alcohol etc. may clean it, but it can tend to dry it out and lose even more of that lovely deep liquid glossiness of lacquer.

 

As to obvious patches where the lacquer has already flaked off, there is a laquer-like paint called 'cashew' here in Japan, but it tends to be too shiny once dry. Some people mix 'tonoko' with it to lose the luster/lustre.

 

Someone showed me a trick with a matt (black) quick-drying water-based acrylic (?) paint. It helps blend the bald patches into the general background and looks good from almost any distance. Great for home displays, but not recommended for museum standard renovations. The matt is not a problem; the repaired article looks actually better than having lacquer or lacquer-alternative glossy patches here and there. Old red lacquer fades easily, so it can be more of a problem to harmonize.

[estcrh]

Dear Chris, and Harry,

Thank you both for the suggestions and also Chris for the advice. This bow is VERY old and once broken could not be repaired. May I ask Chris how do you display your yumi. Since they are ass backwards as compared to when they are strung.

... Ron Watson

Ron, here is a display suggestion from an old Japanese house.

 

http://www.nakagawakousan.com/index.php ... 39&catid=3

 

 

Another display method I found somewere.

[IanB]

All, In general I have not found black lacquer to be a problem provided it is sound. Red is a nightmare as I said before and gold lacquer I leave well alone. The gold layer is so thin it is so easily damaged. Tony's comment about nicotine is interesting because you do get a brown gunk off as you clean dirty lacquer, but in some cases I think it is the degradation product of lacquer itself. You would have to chain-smoke for decades to get off the quantity that sometimes occurs. I have heard of vegetable oil being used, and once tried wiping black lacquer with a tissue having a smear of olive oil on it. Initially the result looked good, but it soon went patchy. There is also the dilemma of whether to wax the lacquer after cleaning black lacquer. In the past I have done it and it doesn't seem to have done any harm. As I said, I do it if I have cut off the upper layer of red lacquer, but no longer use it on black, just buff it with a soft cloth.

I store my bow (I only have one now) horizontally on two pegs - what else can you do with the wretched things - they are so unwieldy.

 

And yes Tony, I should be going to the next Birmingham.

Ian

[Eric H]

There is also the dilemma of whether to wax the lacquer after cleaning black lacquer

Basically all lacquerware must be kept out of strong light, dustfree and in an environment with proper humidity. Black lacquer objects f.e. turn a mottled brown when exposed to light, they loose their sheen and become dull due to degrading its surface by light. However, the appearance can sometimes be improved with the application of a coat of good quality paste wax, containing carnauba, once or twice a year. The wax saturates the lacquer and restores depth and shine. Wax should only be applied if necessary, and not to pieces which are in good condition.

 

Eric

[cabowen]

Many older Japanese homes had open fires in them, they cooked with wood, and they burned oil lamps. As a result, the inside of older homes often has a layer of soot. Not hard to imagine anything that spent a lot of time up on walls, in the ceiling beams, etc., would get coated as well...

 

Back to yumi: it should be mentioned that they are never left strung. Leaving a yumi strung for a long period of time without reason (sometimes done to repair) is bad for the yumi...

[Eric H]

Many older Japanese homes had open fires in them, they cooked with wood, and they burned oil lamps. As a result, the inside of older homes often has a layer of soot. Not hard to imagine anything that spent a lot of time up on walls, in the ceiling beams, etc., would get coated as well...

Lacquer objects of value were traditionally stored in kiri boxes or in textile wrappers for protection from exposure to light and other sources of possible damage as well as a buffer of changes in humidity.

 

That said, swords are best stored in silk bags instead of to hang them on the wall or permanently on display...in any case when there are valuable Koshirae, f.e. an impeccable black lacquer saya etc. I have seen damages on the lacquer of outstanding Koshirae due to the ingnorance of their respective owners.

 

However, for an old yumi, depending on its actual state, this foresight is negligible.

 

Eric

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, as an experiment I cleaned an old lacquer kiseru-zutsu with the magic gunk just now. The tube was badly damaged but there are the remains of two masks on the side which caught my eye. I had shown it to a few people but they just sniffed.

 

So tonight I cleaned it and made some discoveries under the filth.

 

Three before shots.

[Bugyotsuji]

Half an hour later.

 

After shots

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

An outstanding job of cleaning/restoration, ... let the snifflers go eat cake !

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Ron, I forgot to mention that the bloke who sold me on this stuff insisted on the use of microfibre (microfiber) cloths. They pick up minute traces of dirt and prevent surface scoring or minute scratching apparently. Not being a housewife I had to go and find out what they were before laying in a stock of them.