The National Science and Technology Museum of Catalonia (MNACTEC) has completed the process of restoring the Limpiacristales Netol mural advertisement dating from the 1960s at the address Carrer de la Font Vella 63 in Terrassa. The advertisement, which has now recovered its original colours and form, belongs to the MNACTEC collections and will remain on public display in Terrassa.
The advertisement for Netol window cleaner was in a very poor state of preservation. The underlying structure had become detached and the colours were coming away, jeopardising its integrity, while the surface was extremely dirty. These factors prompted urgent intervention by mural painting conservation-restoration specialists.
The restoration of the hoarding was conducted by the company Policomia, under the supervision of the MNACTEC conservation-restoration team. The work was conducted in two phases, and took four months. The first phase took place in late 2022, and included consolidation and attachment of the underlying structure to prevent any greater degradation. The second phase, undertaken between February and May 2023, involved effective restoration, cleaning the surface dirt and dust off the advertisement using water-based techniques, and restoring the volume and colouring of those parts which had come away. One of the difficulties faced in the restoration process was that the sign was only intended as temporary, and the materials used to paint it were not therefore particularly hard-wearing.
Following completion of the restoration, the plan is to install a protective canopy over the advertisement, while periodic preventive conservation inspections will be conducted by the MNACTEC.
The Netol advertisement has formed part of the MNACTEC collections since October 2022, when the owner of the building where the mural stands, Miguel Ángel Salazar, donated the work to the Museum.
25 May 2023
