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How do you stop dust settling on artwork in a gallery?
How to keep fine dust off hung works in a Paddington gallery — what to remove from the cleaning routine, what to schedule between hangs, and how to write a no-touch zone into a scope.
Remove every technique that puts dust into the air — dry sweeping, feather dusting and unfiltered vacuums — and replace them with HEPA extraction and damp microfibre. Then schedule all high-level work for the gap between exhibitions, when the walls are bare and the ceiling can actually be reached safely.
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Most gallery dust is created by the cleaning
Galleries across Paddington 2021, from the Oxford Street end to the terrace streets behind it, share the same complaint: particulate settling on works and framed glazing within days of an install. The instinct is to clean more often. Usually that makes it worse.
Dry sweeping a timber floor aerosolises fine grit. A feather duster relocates dust rather than capturing it. A vacuum without a HEPA stage exhausts fines straight back into the room. Do all three in a space with unglazed works on the walls and you have built a dust circulation system.
The removal list
Before adding anything to a gallery scope, take these out of it entirely.
- • Dry sweeping, anywhere in the building including the packing area
- • Feather dusters and lambswool dusters of any kind
- • Domestic or unfiltered commercial vacuums
- • Aerosol sprays and any product applied as a mist near hung works
- • Fast, aggressive vacuum passes — speed lifts more than it collects
The replacement routine
What goes back in is slower and more deliberate, and it is the whole difference between a gallery that holds a hang and one that does not.
- • HEPA-filtered vacuuming on a slow pass across floors and skirtings
- • Damp microfibre on plinths, benches, rails, sills and viewing-room furniture
- • Low-moisture pH-neutral care for original boards, with no saturation
- • A written no-touch zone — 400mm around any work is a workable default — agreed with the director
- • High dusting of lighting tracks, picture rails, cornices and mezzanine undersides between hangs only
- • A pre-opening detail visit 24 hours before each launch
- • Packing and crating areas managed separately so crate dust does not migrate into hanging spaces
Schedule around the hang, not the week
The single biggest improvement is calendar-driven. Ask for the exhibition schedule and build the roster from it. Between hangs, while walls are bare, run a deep visit covering everything above head height. During a show, drop back to light-touch visits plus the pre-opening detail.
Almost all the heavy cleaning a gallery needs is unsafe or impossible while work is hanging. If it is not done in the gap, it never gets done at all — and the dust it sheds lands on the next exhibition.
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Frequently asked questions
How often should a gallery floor be cleaned during a show?
Two to three light HEPA passes a week suits most commercial gallery spaces, plus the pre-opening detail. More frequent floor work during a show adds disturbance without adding much benefit.
Should cleaners ever touch the works?
No. Cleaning of works, frames and glazing on hung pieces is a conservation or gallery-staff task, not a cleaning contractor one. The scope should say so explicitly.
Do air purifiers help?
They help at the margins, but they are not a substitute for method. A HEPA purifier running alongside dry sweeping and feather dusting will still lose.
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