The developments of cleaning methods for paintings in Italy during the past 15 years are described. Restoration in Italy has been mostly practiced by private restorers, whose limited budgets can hardly afford a good preliminary diagnostic campaign. Public laboratories, such as those that belong to Soprintendenze or museums, still represent a small minority compared to the total number of restorers. Research for less toxic materials and a more reasonable and cautious use of the traditional ones, as well as a concern for informing restorers, began during the 1990s. Since then, about 4,000 technicians have been trained, and a number of different training courses have taken place in Italy as well as in other countries. Not all the participants were converted to a rational approach based on the execution of solubility tests, followed by a layer-by-layer action to reach the highest selectivity, favoring aqueous methods whenever possible and using solvent-gelled processes rather than liquid ones to operate in the least invasive way. Nonetheless, a positive example of the increased sensitivity toward this methodological approach can be seen in the Restituzioni, an event that involves a series of restorations promoted by an important bank and that already has celebrated its 20th convocation. During the first years, a materials approach to the restoration of artifacts, such as canvases, panels, and painted sculptures, was more traditional, whereas after a decade, more and more interventions relied on the use of the solubility test, aqueous methods, gels, and other such approaches.