Way back in the 1980's we used an "eraser shield" in drafting class. That works better than a sheet of typing paper to protect the areas you are trying not to touch with the eraser. And a cheapo 1" paint brush works to brush off your eraser crumbs. When you blow on the page, it's possible you could cause spit drops to reach the surface. I use a cotton cloth instead of a Kleenex to wipe away some of the eraser smudges afterwards. Another product that works very well is called Absorene. It's like play dough or silly putty that you can knead into small amounts and work it around like an eraser - this Absorene works on those yellow ads and other places where the dirt reaches into color areas.
This is incredible! I knew it would work. I was thinking of doing this a while back. Thanks for showing us how well it works :) Very well done. Now its time to go through my comics and see which ones I can clean and bring back to life!
Thanks for the informational vid Nick! Very cool, I could see the difference being made almost immediately. I have often wondered if a softer art eraser would work on certain areas of a comic, but was too chicken to try it myself lol! I have seen the results of a regular, pink pencil eraser- not pretty. Comic collecting 101, taking us all to school once again lol!
***** you are welcome! if you see the other vid with the regular pink pencil eraser that I also loaded today, then that is a familiar to what you have seen before. No doubt, using the right eraser with a feather touch is the key :)
Great tip Nick..I'd always wondered if there was any so called " home-made " method to improving the appearance of a book.. Appreciate the heads up ! :)
Nice Nick!! Yep a technique used to make your books improve the grade I would never attempt that!! LOL. I usually send my books to CCS & Heroes Restoration for Pressing & Dry Cleaning. Its been a big debate on pressing for years, The best kept secret until the last few years I personally don't care if it's been pressed or not. I would say if your buying slab bronze age, copper age etc. almost anything key its a good bet the book was pressed already. Great vid Nick.
yup...you can add that that many books that was pressed are likely been dry cleaned if needed...it is part of the service CCS or Heroes Restoration or any other pros in this business so what I show here is nothing new for those that used the pressing services over the past many years.
Thanks for this Nick, I actually just found an old copy of Ms Marvel 1 that could use a back cover clean, I'm going to start practicing on some beaters this weekend
herohunter81 Was the extra staples added after production to hold the book together? if it is a manufacturing oddity then it won't hurt the grade. the answer to your question might be in this short discussion. boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5053216
there is no way to clean the colored area of the cover without causing a loss in the color....so the only method I recommend clean the colored area of the back or the front cover is use a soft tissue and wipe as in the way I demonstrated in the vid. Some people use Obsorene as in this old vid to clean the front cover and I have tried it. ruclips.net/video/Vzu50XlutMA/видео.html I don't like the residues that are left behind and Obsorene has left colored off the cover when I tried it on beaters and readers so I don't use it. I don't have a tutorial on how to press but I did do a vid on what pressing is and what flaws can and cannot be fix with pressing. The link to that vid is below in case you have never watched it. ruclips.net/video/Po1aatetk0k/видео.html
no....every professional pressing companies offered this service to clean and press your book to improve the grade. Wet cleaning is considered restoration but dry cleaning as in pressing, have been around for decades :) many people just don't care to know it...LOL
p.s. I would be out of my mind to post video to teach anyone to restore books...might as hell shut down the channel before the witch hunt and the pitch forks come out.
+eta nick Its not adding something to the book. Its taking away what wasn't originally there...the dirt....so it is restoring the book to closer to its original condition......Call it "preservation" and people wouldn't have an issue with it.... Its just the word "Restoration" that freaks people out and makes them judge it before thinking about it because they are use to hearing like things about colour touch ups which deviously hide colour breaks in a book or actually adding missing pieces to a book.....those are methods of Hiding flaws.....cleaning when done correctly removes the flaw...the dirt! You don't want to get a dirty book graded and seal the dirt in....thats an awful idea. You bag and board a book to preserve it so if people always called cleaning "Preservation" everyone would jump for joy and think its great.
This is evidently an old comic and it has clearly sustained a lot of unfortunate wear over the years. This technique is great for comics that have very minimum damage, but for a comic that has sustained this much damage... I think you would need to send it to a genuine comic restoration specialist.
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
Way back in the 1980's we used an "eraser shield" in drafting class. That works better than a sheet of typing paper to protect the areas you are trying not to touch with the eraser. And a cheapo 1" paint brush works to brush off your eraser crumbs. When you blow on the page, it's possible you could cause spit drops to reach the surface. I use a cotton cloth instead of a Kleenex to wipe away some of the eraser smudges afterwards. Another product that works very well is called Absorene. It's like play dough or silly putty that you can knead into small amounts and work it around like an eraser - this Absorene works on those yellow ads and other places where the dirt reaches into color areas.
I do have a tub of Absorene but I seem to have less success with them and more issues with the residues left behind :(
Nice video, great to see so one teach probably the least invasive way to dryclean a book. I'm sure this will help out a lot of people.
This is incredible! I knew it would work. I was thinking of doing this a while back. Thanks for showing us how well it works :) Very well done. Now its time to go through my comics and see which ones I can clean and bring back to life!
+Mike York practice...practice..practice :) start small and be gentle.
Great video, crazy how much nicer it looked after.
Thanks for the informational vid Nick! Very cool, I could see the difference being made almost immediately. I have often wondered if a softer art eraser would work on certain areas of a comic, but was too chicken to try it myself lol! I have seen the results of a regular, pink pencil eraser- not pretty. Comic collecting 101, taking us all to school once again lol!
***** you are welcome! if you see the other vid with the regular pink pencil eraser that I also loaded today, then that is a familiar to what you have seen before. No doubt, using the right eraser with a feather touch is the key :)
Great tip Nick..I'd always wondered if there was any so called " home-made " method to improving the appearance of a book.. Appreciate the heads up ! :)
thanks Shannon..I made another dry clean video that I am loading right now...watch that one for sure to see more demonstrations and explanations.
Wow never knew about that!! Thanks Mr.Clean
Nice Nick!! Yep a technique used to make your books improve the grade I would never attempt that!! LOL. I usually send my books to CCS & Heroes Restoration for Pressing & Dry Cleaning. Its been a big debate on pressing for years, The best kept secret until the last few years I personally don't care if it's been pressed or not. I would say if your buying slab bronze age, copper age etc. almost anything key its a good bet the book was pressed already. Great vid Nick.
yup...you can add that that many books that was pressed are likely been dry cleaned if needed...it is part of the service CCS or Heroes Restoration or any other pros in this business so what I show here is nothing new for those that used the pressing services over the past many years.
Thanks for this Nick, I actually just found an old copy of Ms Marvel 1 that could use a back cover clean, I'm going to start practicing on some beaters this weekend
best of luck!
How much do extra staples affect the grade of a book? Would it help if I removed them? Thanks.
herohunter81 Was the extra staples added after production to hold the book together? if it is a manufacturing oddity then it won't hurt the grade.
the answer to your question might be in this short discussion.
boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5053216
Actually having extra staples or adding new ones will effect your grade they look at that at a grading company.
Excellent technique.
thanks
Wow...Neat ...How about a video on cleaning / pressing too. Most people (myself included) aren't aware of the techniques used, history...etc......
I did a vid on Pressing but no demonstrations and you seen that vid way back.
I don't know if you've already done this but do you have a tutorial on pressing and cleaning a color area like a cover
there is no way to clean the colored area of the cover without causing a loss in the color....so the only method I recommend clean the colored area of the back or the front cover is use a soft tissue and wipe as in the way I demonstrated in the vid. Some people use Obsorene as in this old vid to clean the front cover and I have tried it. ruclips.net/video/Vzu50XlutMA/видео.html
I don't like the residues that are left behind and Obsorene has left colored off the cover when I tried it on beaters and readers so I don't use it. I don't have a tutorial on how to press but I did do a vid on what pressing is and what flaws can and cannot be fix with pressing. The link to that vid is below in case you have never watched it.
ruclips.net/video/Po1aatetk0k/видео.html
thanks nick
Kenneth Brown you are welcome...hopefully that pressing video will answer some questions for you
SUBSCRIBED!! Thank you!
thanks!
Great how to video
Is this considered restoration? I'd think so. Thanks.
no....every professional pressing companies offered this service to clean and press your book to improve the grade. Wet cleaning is considered restoration but dry cleaning as in pressing, have been around for decades :) many people just don't care to know it...LOL
p.s. I would be out of my mind to post video to teach anyone to restore books...might as hell shut down the channel before the witch hunt and the pitch forks come out.
+eta nick Its not adding something to the book. Its taking away what wasn't originally there...the dirt....so it is restoring the book to closer to its original condition......Call it "preservation" and people wouldn't have an issue with it.... Its just the word "Restoration" that freaks people out and makes them judge it before thinking about it because they are use to hearing like things about colour touch ups which deviously hide colour breaks in a book or actually adding missing pieces to a book.....those are methods of Hiding flaws.....cleaning when done correctly removes the flaw...the dirt! You don't want to get a dirty book graded and seal the dirt in....thats an awful idea.
You bag and board a book to preserve it so if people always called cleaning "Preservation" everyone would jump for joy and think its great.
Wow!
Use an erasing shield
This is evidently an old comic and it has clearly sustained a lot of unfortunate wear over the years. This technique is great for comics that have very minimum damage, but for a comic that has sustained this much damage... I think you would need to send it to a genuine comic restoration specialist.
Retitle this to (Eraser Cleaning). That's all it is, nothing new. If anything this guy knows very little since he is using paper as an eraser shield.
No need to say anything like that. Nick is just trying to be helpful and share knowledge. The video was very helpful to me.