Refurbishment & Care

Bronze Care Kit

This Bronze Care Kit is designed to help you maintain the beauty and integrity of your hot or cold cast sculpture.

It includes all the essential tools needed for cleaning and waxing, ensuring your artwork stays protected from the elements while retaining its original lustre.

Follow the easy-to-use instructions inside to carefully remove dirt and oxidation, then apply the included wax for a smooth, glossy finish. Free delivery within the UK. 

Buy a Bronze Care Kit

What’s included in the Bronze Care Kit:

• Cleaning Sponge
• Lint-free Drying Cloth
• 75ml tube of Metal Polish
• Large Brass Brush
• Small Brass Brush
• Variety of Buffing Mops
• Tin of Renaissance Wax
• Brushes for application
• Protective gloves

Use our Bronze Care Kit to bring your Robert James Workshop Sculpture back to life. 

Buy Your Bronze Care Kit

Caring for your bronze sculpture

Hot cast and cold cast bronze resin sculptures are given a patina intended to last a long time. However, the surface colour of the sculpture will change and eventually turn verdigris due to the piece's high copper content.

Oxidation of bronze naturally turns it green. The surface is a `living surface’ that changes, reflecting the natural beauty of bronze. However, such changes can be delayed, to a point, by applying wax, which provides some protection.

Cold cast bronze resin castings will ‘weather’ like bronze, developing a verdigris patina if left alone. To retain their radiance, we recommend applying a neutral wax coating at least twice a year. The highly polished areas can be restored by using a metal polish and buffing.

Choosing your environment carefully

The environment in which your bronze is placed will also affect its surface quality. Salty air, bird excrement, plants and trees which produce certain saps, all these substances can change the look of the bronze.

Cold cast bronze resin sculptures are not as robust as hot cast bronze, so please be aware of this when handling them. Always choose a solid part of the sculpture when lifting, avoiding the thinner and more vulnerable areas, such as arms or other protruding parts.

Water feature care

Hot cast bronze and cold cast bronze resin water features require particular care during the winter months. It is imperative that water features are drained off to protect them during frosty conditions. Water left in pipes and then frozen will cause the pipes to expand and burst.

Placement is also important when choosing a location, and in particular, keep your sculptures away from large trees that may drop branches. Due to increasing climate change impacts, we advise considering the following precautions.

Cold castings are more vulnerable to the effects of hot and cold weather conditions.

The surfaces can expand and contract, sometimes causing fissures. These changes are not subject to the guarantee agreement post the 12-month period, as local environmental effects cannot be accounted for. To reduce the chances of adverse effects, we recommend that the sculpture be bubble-wrapped and waterproofed for the colder months of the year. For hotter climates, we advise shaded positions, and if extreme heat is experienced, removing them from direct sunlight.

If your budget allows, we always recommend hot cast bronze purchase options, as they are unrivalled in durability and longevity.

Winter care advice for water features

As part of the process of setting up your water feature and connecting the pump to the mains supply, please ensure that the cable is protected and connected to a ground Fault Interrupter, for your own protection and to comply with safety regulations. Robert James Workshop Ltd accepts no responsibility for the above and advises that a qualified electrician be used. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask us for advice on where to place your sculpture and any other care recommendations.

Contact us for care advice