The booking says “Dust Room Decorations & Picture Frames (up to 9ft)”. On the wall in front of you are eleven frames: some plain wood, some gold-toned, most with glass. The line tells you what to dust and how high. It does not tell you whether a frame comes off the wall, whether the glass gets a cloth, or what to do about a frame that looks fragile.
Below is a one-page card for that decision, with two fictional visits. It is a suggested personal record for independent cleaners, not a Hometress requirement, training standard or app feature. It is not a conservation guide, and it does not teach you to tell gilt from paint, or a print from a painting, by looking. The rules come from two guides written for museums and historic houses: the Collection Housekeeping Guide from the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA; the PDF’s file name says 2022), and Housekeeping for Historic Homes and House Museums by Melissa Heaver (copyright 2000, National Trust for Historic Preservation, hosted as a PDF), both read November 1, 2026. Every borrowed rule is labelled as museum or historic-house guidance, with what we kept and what we left behind. The task line comes from Hometress’s published checklist.
The short answer
- Look before you touch. Both guides say to check that a frame is stable first. If it is flaking, crumbling, loose or hanging badly, skip it and tell the client.
- On the frame, use a soft brush or soft cloth, dry, from the top down. Heaver says a gilded frame gets a soft brush only. Neither guide wants a feather duster.
- On the glass, CCAHA says a soft, clean cloth, gently. Heaver says no moisture below the glass, and for a gilded frame no moisture on the glass or frame. Neither guide gives a method for a client’s home. Our suggestion, not a Hometress rule: a dry cloth, and if dry is not enough, leave the glass and tell the client.
- Never touch the picture itself.
- Dust the frame where it hangs. The guides’ lifting rules are for two people in a museum. Our suggestion, not a Hometress rule: leave it up, and ask first about anything you would have to lift.
What the sheet says and what it leaves open
Hometress’s published Standard list has one line for this, “Dust Room Decorations & Picture Frames (up to 9ft)”, under Entire House. Our guide to what each cleaning tier includes lists every line. The reach limit is covered in the two-step stool worksheet: Hometress’s Terms have cleaners work from standard two-step stools and clean only what is within safe reach from the floor or the step. This card starts at the next question: once you can reach it, what do you touch?
The line names no tool and does not say whether decorations are lifted or left in place. We found no Hometress method for decorations, and this guide claims none. The Terms also ask clients to put away “any irreplaceable items, fragile heirlooms, or valuable objects” before a visit. What to do with a fragile frame that is still on the wall is what the card is for.
Two museum guides, one wall of frames
Both guides say who they are for. CCAHA’s is a collection housekeeping plan, and it opens by talking about collections staff. Heaver’s says it is meant for people who look after “an older or historic home, whether private residence or house museum”, and adds that owners of antiques and family heirlooms will find advice in it. Neither was written for a cleaner working a Standard visit, and most of what hangs in a client’s hallway is not a conservator’s painting.
CCAHA’s “Framed Paintings” entry is one short paragraph. It says to start “After checking that the surface of a frame is stable (not flaking or crumbling)”, then to “use a soft brush or wool duster to gently dust from the top down.” Then, if necessary, to “gently buff the glass or Plexiglas” with “a soft, clean cloth.” And: “Be careful not to touch the surface of the painting.” Heaver has a longer “Framed Objects” entry. Its handling tips begin: “Before touching any framed object, examine the object, the frame, and the hanging mechanism carefully.” Then: “Do not proceed if any of these look fragile.” Its “Frames and Glass” list says “Dust the frame with a soft cloth or brush.” and “Gilded frames should only be cleaned with a soft brush.” It also says: “Do not allow any moisture to seep below the glass.”
Who says what
| Question | CCAHA collection guide (2022 file) | Heaver, National Trust (2000) |
|---|---|---|
| Before you start | “After checking that the surface of a frame is stable (not flaking or crumbling)” | Examine “the object, the frame, and the hanging mechanism”; “Do not proceed if any of these look fragile.” |
| Dusting a frame | “a soft brush or wool duster”, gently, from the top down. | “Dust the frame with a soft cloth or brush.” |
| A gilded frame | Not mentioned in its framed-paintings entry. | “Gilded frames should only be cleaned with a soft brush.” |
| Glass or Plexiglas | “gently buff the glass or Plexiglas” with “a soft, clean cloth”. Does not say dry or damp. | “Do not allow any moisture to seep below the glass.” It says to “Clean the glass as you would a mirror”, and its mirror notes say for gilded frames “do not allow any moisture to touch the glass or frame”. Its supplies list for the entry names glass cleaner and Plexiglas cleaner and gives no method. |
| The picture itself | “Be careful not to touch the surface of the painting.” | “Never touch the surface of a painting or other framed object.” |
| A feather duster | “Do not use feather dusters or cloths impregnated with chemicals or cleansers” (general supplies list, not the framed entry). | “Do not use a feather duster.” (furniture entry, not the framed entry). |
| Taking it off the wall | Not mentioned. | A museum’s annual task: “Remove framed objects from the wall, always using two people.” And “If there is any doubt, do not rehang.” |
“Not mentioned” means we read the entry named in that column and found no sentence. It is not permission. The rows marked “not the framed entry” show where a rule sits in the guide, so it is not quoted for a surface it does not govern.
Three rules that survive into a client’s home
1. Check before you touch, and stop on a fragile frame. Both guides say this in their own words: CCAHA to check the frame is stable, Heaver to examine the object, frame and hanging mechanism and not proceed if any look fragile. Museum origin: CCAHA’s entry is written for collections staff, and Heaver’s for the caretakers of historic houses and house museums, and of antiques and heirlooms at home. What we kept: the stop. What we added: reading a frame that wobbles on its nail as a hanging-mechanism warning. That reading is ours, not a quotation.
2. On the frame, soft and dry, top down; brush only if it may be gilded; no feather duster. CCAHA names a soft brush or wool duster, top down. Heaver names a soft cloth or brush, and a brush only for gilt. CCAHA warns that feather dusters and chemically treated cloths can leave a damaging residue, and Heaver’s furniture entry says no feather duster. What we added: when the finish is unknown, use the soft brush, because it is the one tool that fits every rule in the table. That is our rule, not theirs.
3. Glass last, a soft clean cloth, no moisture below the glass, and never the picture. In CCAHA’s order the glass comes after the frame, and only if necessary. Heaver adds the moisture rule. Heaver’s “Frames and Glass” list also says to “Clean the glass as you would a mirror”, which points to its mirror notes, and those say for gilded frames “do not allow any moisture to touch the glass or frame”. Neither guide says whether the cloth is dry or damp for an ordinary frame, and Heaver’s supplies list names glass cleaner without a method. Our suggestion, not a Hometress rule: use the cloth dry. This guide gives no wet method, because the one source that speaks to moisture says none for gilt and we do not teach you to tell gilt by looking. If dry does not do it, leave the glass and note it for the client.
What stays in the museum
Heaver tells readers to wear gloves if a frame is metal or gilded, because gilt “rubs off very easily and is highly susceptible to the oils and salts on your hands.” We do not require gloves, and we found no Hometress rule about them in the checklist or Terms we read. The reason behind the rule is why the card says to touch a frame as little as possible. Heaver also describes vacuuming the back of a frame on low suction, a solvent on cotton batting for a mirror’s deeper cleaning, and two-person removals. Our suggestion, not a Hometress rule: this card leaves all of them out.
One more line to leave where it is. In its section on windows with UV roller shades or Plexiglas covers, Heaver says not to spray anything directly onto the plexi or glass. That governs museum windows, not framed pictures, so this card does not borrow it. A spray-bottle sentence in Heaver’s mirror notes is cut off in the text we extracted, so we do not quote it either.
The card
Copy this into a note, one card per wall or per frame you hesitate over. Work down the rows in order; the right-hand column is what to do when you cannot fill a row in.
| Field | What to write | If you cannot fill it in |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Item and line | The wall or frame, the room, and the sheet line, “Dust Room Decorations & Picture Frames (up to 9ft)”. | Write the room and a short description. |
| 2. What I see | Frame material and finish only as the frame, a label or the client says; visible flaking, crumbling or a loose corner; glass or no glass. Not a guess at gilt. | Write “finish unknown.” |
| 3. Stable? | Yes only if none of these is true: flaking or crumbling, a loose corner, glass that shifts, a frame that wobbles on its nail. (CCAHA and Heaver, museum and historic-house guidance; the nail is our reading.) | Not sure counts as not stable: skip it and write why. |
| 4. Tool | A soft dry brush, top down. CCAHA also names a wool duster; Heaver also names a soft cloth for a frame that is not gilded. | Finish unknown: soft brush only. Ours. |
| 5. Glass | A soft, clean cloth, gently; dry (ours). No moisture below the glass, and none on the glass or frame if the frame may be gilded (Heaver). Do not touch the picture. | Leave it and write “glass not cleaned”. |
| 6. Wall | Stays on the wall. Ours. Reached from the floor or the step stool. | Write “not reached” and why. |
| 7. Ask the client first? | Yes or no, and what you asked. | Yes, for a finish you cannot tell or anything you would have to lift. |
| 8. Unresolved | What you could not confirm, for your own note and the client. | Write “glass method unconfirmed.” |
When to skip and message the client
Skip the frame, dust the rest of the wall, and write one line to the client when any of these is true: the frame is flaking, crumbling, loose or crooked on its nail; the brush comes away with a flake or a trace of gold; the client flagged it; or you would have to lift it. That list is ours, built on the stop rule in both guides. Say what you did not do and what you did; the card does not change what a booking includes, so record unfinished work and discuss it with the client.
Two fictional visits
These visits are fictional. The frames belong to no real client, and neither CCAHA nor the National Trust has endorsed the card. The circumstances are invented; what a source says and what is our suggestion are marked separately.
A hallway of plain wooden frames
Room and line: Entire House, “Dust Room Decorations & Picture Frames (up to 9ft)”. What I see: nine frames in plain painted wood, most with glass over printed photographs, all within reach from the floor or the step stool. Stable: yes on all nine; nothing flaking, nothing loose, none crooked on its nail. Tool: soft dry brush, top down. Glass: a soft, clean cloth, dry, gently, nothing wet near the edges. Wall: they stay up. Ask the client first: no. Unresolved: nothing, and the note says what was done. The steps come from CCAHA and Heaver, museum and historic-house guidance; “dry” and “stay up” are ours.
A gold-toned frame with a chipped corner
Room and line: the same. What I see: one gold-toned frame over the mantel with a corner where the surface has lifted. Finish: unknown, and I do not guess whether it is gilt. Stable: no, because the corner is flaking. Tool: none. Both guides say to stop on a fragile frame, so I skip it and dust the other frames. Ask the client first: yes. Our suggested note, not a Hometress wording: “The frame over the mantel has a flaking corner, so I left it undusted. Tell me if you would like it done a particular way.” Unresolved: whether the client wants it dusted, and how.
What this guide leaves out
It makes no claim about a particular cloth, brush or cleaner, by brand or price. It does not cover restoration, appraisal or the value of anything on the wall, and it does not teach you to tell gilt from gold-toned paint or an original from a print. The bedroom mirror line has its own card: the blinds and mirror guide. The generic checks that come before any of these cards are in our surface-check order, and before you lift or carry anything, our guide to safety for independent house cleaners covers lifting and leaving an unsafe job.
Where a platform fits
Hometress is a cleaning marketplace in Philadelphia. It is free to join, and cleaners carry their own insurance. If checking a frame before you dust it is how you already work, the application takes about five minutes. This guide does not cover pay.