Preservation and restoration of cultural heritage very often requires the selective removal of degraded polymers used in past restorations. Unfortunately, cleaning procedures, when improperly performed, may be aggressive and invasive for the original materials. Micelle solutions, microemulsions and gels offer new tools for the cleaning of surfaces. This paper reports on polyalkyl-glycosides (APG) surfactants used to prepare microemulsions for polymers removal, as for example aged Paraloid®B72, from painted surfaces. Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles have been chemically linked with chemical gels in order to obtain a sponge able to soak up microemulsions. This innovative system can be used for cleaning wall paintings, or different painted surfaces, i.e. wood or canvas paintings. Successful laboratory and some in situ tests are reported.