The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an extensive collection of painted furniture; with the opening of the new American Wing in May 1980, it was decided to explore the possibilities of cleaning the painted layers on a number of pieces for exhibition. The expertise of both a painting conservator and a furniture conservator was required because of the diverse nature of the surface coatings, and to utilize to the fullest extent the skills, training, and aesthetic principles of the two fields of study. New treatments had to be developed with the time constraint of three months; the treatments had to be executed with the knowledge that there would be no time for full analytical support studies.