To clean or not to clean?

[makenchips]

I was just wondering how many people wash/scrub thier carvings prior to painting/priming/staining? Doesn't this raise the grain on fine detailed work? I know after cleaning you are supposed to sand with fine grit or paper bag type material but if you have fine detail wouldnt this still ruin it?

[Thomp]

i been using lynn droughtys wet on wet wash method of painting, and i didnt find it to raise the grain on my last few carvings, but it was some really great northern basswood, from henkei this last batch from him is really fuzzy ill know more by the end of this month.. when i get these 7 other projects done;.

[Callynne]

I've heard of doing that, but I've never seen the need to. When I'm done carving I sand my work, not totally smooth sanding (except for 'flesh areas' like faces and hands, for some reason I like them smooth). The sanding I do still leaves them looking like a wood carving, just not as distinct as if I hadn't sanded at all.

Washing them could definitely swell the wood some, depending on how wet you actually got it, but I would think the detail would be there when the wood dries. I just don't see why you'd need to wash them, be interesting to hear others thoughts on this! Deborah

[jillsy]

After I'm done carving and sanding, I do clean my piece with warm soapy water and little stiff brush. This helps take off little bits and pieces (apparently also oils in the hand) I never soak the pieces and they dry fairly quickly. When they dry, I resand very lightly, brush off, and then start priming.

I never would have thought about doing this on my own. I read about doing it in a few books (I think by Ron Ransom). It doesn't hurt the piece that I can tell and I do like the look of it after being cleaned. I always have to debate whether or not I wanna paint it or leave it natural.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Dirt seems to collect only on the ridge of the individual chips so it's only necessary to clean that part of a carving. To do that I use a Sand-O-Flex wheel with 380 grit slitted paper. Before using a new role of paper I take an old piece of wood and hold it into the wheel till the little fingers of sandpaper are frayed and worn. This way I don't have to worry about removing too much wood. I've been using this method for umpteen years without a complaint so far. I will admit that I've only used this on my figures so it might not apply to whatever you're carving.

[Doug Ridley]

I go over my carvings with the same thing Lynn does if it is a large carving. The sandoflex is a VERY useful tool for many applications. On some smaller ones I use a brown defuzzer pad on a mandrel. Since Mary paints mostly with oils, she paints right on the raw wood, often rubbing pretty hard with an old rag to actually force the paint into the wood and and at the same time remove excess paint.

[Bartster]

i wash my carvings when i am ready for painting the way i do it is this;
run carving under water just to get wet alittle
put some dial liquid soap on brush and scrub to a good lather then rinse off the soap and towel dry just to get the heavy moisture off. then i either paint it or just paint the eyes and teeth,and let dry and then apply the stain and paint over that with thin washes.

hope this helps

bart

[Blake Lunsford]

I use the same method as Bart and found on the Indian with Wolf Cape piece that I completed that the grain really shows through after you wash it. This wood was also purchased at Hineke. You can see it under my Gallery in "Carver Galleries". Hope this helps!!

Blake