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If you see a staff member at an art museum spilling their saliva on a world-famous painting, you don't need to be too surprised. Because it's a very good way to clean your paintings.
The staff is cleaning the oil painting. Reference 7
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to a study published in 1990 that showed that human saliva is an effective detergent. In fact, this cleaning method is very old, perhaps thousands of years old, and today, saliva is still the most convenient and effective cleaning agent for some museum keepers.
Saliva contains a variety of enzymes, such as amylase, lipase and lysozyme, which can initially digest food entering the mouth, and can also break down food debris between teeth to play an antibacterial role.
As a result, saliva can also clean dust, dirt, and other foreign objects from the painting. It is also believed that saliva is a little warm and slightly acidic, which is more conducive to the removal of dirt. Sometimes, some people feel uncomfortable when cleaning with "saliva", so people also refer to it as a "mild enzyme solution".
这不叫口水这叫温和的酶溶液（x |wiki
However, when cleaning a painting with saliva, it is necessary to carry out some saliva tests on the painting, that is, in small corners and inconspicuous places, to check whether it will dissolve in water in the raw materials used to make the artwork. Then compare several cleaning products, such as saliva, water, and others, which one is the best for removing dirt, and then you will actually start cleaning with saliva.
In an art gallery in the United States, restorers cleaned a painting, leather goods, and a saddle with saliva. The repair process only requires cleaning the object with a cotton swab dipped in your own saliva, and it does not need to be ventilated like other cleaners. The restorers also said that although some people find it a little disgusting, after this cleaning, "we will further clean the surface of the painting and let it dry for a long time." ”
Source: Reference 6
Katrin Radermacher, a painting restorer at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in Germany, mentioned that in the past, people used to use various materials to restore artworks, such as milk, beer, vinegar, turpentine and even sand, but none of them were recommended. Nowadays, some of the surfactants used for cleaning are too concentrated, so in the end, the most suitable solution for her was artificial saliva and distilled water.
A painting cleaned with saliva cleans the dirt as shown above. Reference 4
However, in 2020, saliva removal methods, which were considered hygienic, are no longer recommended. Dental experts at the University of Queensland in Australia believe that saliva cleaning needs to be reconsidered during the pandemic, as saliva may contain bacteria and viruses as part of the spread of the disease.
As a result, local museums in Australia are no longer using this cleaning method for safety and health reasons. Experts suggest that artificial saliva is an option in the future.
This entire saddle is stained with saliva. Ref. 6
Speaking of artwork, the editors of the editorial department of the magazine "Everything" recently recently selected the artwork created by young readers, and everyone's submissions were wonderful, full of imagination, bright colors and various details. In the recruitment of illustrators for "Everything", there are 30 young readers whose works are particularly exciting! Let's take a look!
There are a lot of details about this dragon!
Hahahaha Imagination is too rich!
There are also watercolor works, which can be said to be lifelike!
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