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The most common problems with old oil paintings are aged & darkened varnish and the accumulation of dirt & smoke. Both require the thorough cleaning and often removal of the old varnish layer. After any necessary repairs are completed to the painted surface a new clear coating of damar varnish is applied to protect the oil painting for the future. Another common situation with older oils is damage to the painting itself. Holes and tears can be repaired with a canvas patch to the painting's back. The repaired area is filled and textured on the front side, then inpainted to match the original artwork. In extremely neglected cases the canvas itself can rot. This requires a complete remounting from the back side with an archival wax/resin mixture on a new heavier piece of canvas and restretching on its stretcher frame. This is a tedious and time consuming process but the final result is a stable painting with a renewed long life. This same process can also salvage a valuable old painting with badly flaking paint.

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