Salad dressing used to clean ancient art
We all know that salad dressings are very versatile. They can mask the taste of other ingredients, lift a salad up or tone it down, add some moisture to an otherwise dry pile of bits, et cetera et cetera. But here’s a report of a less-known quality of the dressing: cleaning power!
According to recent research, a salad dressing-like fluid is perfect for cleaning some forms of classic art. Well, to be honest it hasn’t been tested on the family silver yet (but please report back here if you’ve tried that with good results). No, the works of art best cleaned with salad dressing are frescoes that have been covered with an acrylic layer in the 60s – in a feeble attempt to preserve them.
A so-called micro-emulsion made from water, 1% of oil and a sugary ingredient to help the oil emulsify proves to be a very effective and safe cleaning agent. The grotty fresco is first covered in thin paper, on top of which the gel-like emulsion is applied. Leave to soak for 10 minutes up to an hour or so and the offending acrylic layer can be pulled off along with the dirt.
The dressing is reported to be very effective at getting into the pores of the frescoes. Of course that makes perfect sense, as we all know that every good salad dressing has the amazing ability to get deeply into our tastebuds. I wonder why it took them this long to find it out.
Whether the cleaned frescoes now taste any better is not revealed. So please have a quick little taste if you ever come across one on a foreign trip and let us know if they really are as fresh and yummy as they look.
