How to Clean Old Stained Glass Windows : Cleaning, Conservation and Restoration of Domestic and Historic Stained Glass
Domestic Stained Glass Cleaning and Encapsulation into Double and Triple Glazed Units
This video reveals the secret behind really effective cleaning of old stained glass with one hundred years of grime and dirt that is etched into the glass and lead.
The secret is to rub the glass very hard for a long time! There is just no substitute for elbow grease, sorry!
We will only use this method for glass that is not painted. Painted stained glass windows must never be scrubbed as this can result in irreversible damage to the window.
We do clean painted stained glass church windows but we will need to survey of the condition of the painting on the glass before a cleaning strategy can be established.
Some times our recommendation is to not clean the window. The paint on the glass can become very loose over the years and cleaning will remove the paint!
We recommend that church windows are never cleaned by members of the church without expert guidance.
This old leaded light panel has been removed from the old window frame and is beeing prepared for encapsulation into a triple glazed unit.
The old corroded border lead has been removed and a new one soldered on.
We use our special formula glass cleaner and a stiff brush. Each lead is cleaned around to scrape off any moss and dirt that grows and builds up.
All the leads are then polished using carbon black polish and finally the whole panel is blown free of dust using high pressure compressed air.
The result is to return the stained glass window back to its former glory.
After cleaning the stained glass or leaded light window is ready for fitting back into the frame or encapsulating into a double or triple glazed unit.
Church window Cleaning, Conservation and Restoration
War Memorial Window, Rivington and Blackrod School Chapel
We recently cleaned the West End window in the Chapel at Rivington and Blackrod School for the Association of Old Rivingtonians.
The beautiful painted glass window is a memorial to pupils and staff killed in the two world wars and was very dirty.
The outside of the window was 'protected' using thick plate glass glazed against the stained glass and pointed around to seal it to the stone.
The result was that debris had built up in tight space between the two layers of glass and was obscuring the bottom section of the window.
Also green alge had grown in the humid space as no ventilation gap had been allowed.
The inside painted surface of the stained glass window had a layer of black soot and dirt from decades of church services in the Chapel.
Polycarbonate Protection after Window Restoration
We removed the plate glass and cleaned both inside and outside faces of the window.
The window was then protected using polycarbonate plastic mounted away from the window on stainless steel brakets to allow ventilation.