advice on cleaning up an old carved panel

I purchased this panel and after I received it I noticed that it must have been stored either outside or someplace damp. It has a lot of what looks like mold bloom on it. Is there anything that I can do to clean it up a bit?
Thanks

A dry shoe brush and nothing else. It looks like a New Guinea piece, correct?

A technique that I use to clean old wooden items, is to gently clean them with something like Murphy's Oil Soap + water. Then, treat the wood with orange oil for darker woods, or lemon oil for lighter woods. You can buy all three items at just about any store, such as Target.

If you do decide to clean this item, you should clean a small, hidden section first to make sure the soaps and oils do not discolor the wood or damage any paint on it.

Good luck!

The Tikipedia
www.tikipedia.com

[ Edited by: tikipedia 2005-09-27 10:49 ]

If there are Earth pigments on that New Guinea panel (which it appears there are) and you touch it with anything resembling oil, it will ruin it, period.

I decided to press forward on my own. I thought I'd share how the panels are turning out so far.
First I cleaned them up with just plain water and let them dry throughly.
They still looked very dull and bleached out, so I had a can of pecan stain, and and started to thinly paint it onto the piece

Closeup of stained area:

first completed piece:

My plan, once I finish up the other pieces, is to install these as a boarder on one wall of my bathroom, which is just off the bar area.
As a side question, has anyone every come across this type of tongue and groove paneling before? The back of each piece is stamped panel carve or panel craft. I have seen other panels with a slightly different carving on them too.
Sure wish I could see a room done in these type of panels from back in the day.

You see things and say, Why? But I dream things that never were, and say, Why not!

[ Edited by: exotica59 2005-11-15 07:23 ]

for some reason I had not noticed both BK and tikipedias replies to my original question. ( must for had a blond moment :))
anyway I figured as bad of shape that these were in that a damp rag couldn't do too much damage. the wood grain was already in bad shape.
After finishing up the first piece I almost wonder if instead of paints or any type, if maybe a torch was run over the pieces to darken certain grooves?
I doubled checked the ink stamp on the back and it does say trade mark panel carve.

I know it's a little late but here's the best stuff in the world for cleaning and restoring old wood. 50-50 mix of turpentine and boiled linseed oil. Don't use mineral spirits, get real turpentine. You can get them both at any good hardware store. Mix it up, rub it on and rub it off. Cleans, refreshes, protects (it will act as a very mild finish if allowed to dry) and takes scratches out of old finishes. I haven't found anything better or cheaper. (It even works for bakelite.) I got this recipe from my old master who used to run an antique shop.

Thanks pappy! I will remember that for next time.