HOW-TO GUIDE FOR DRY CLEANING COMIC BOOKS

Before learning how to dry clean comic books, it's important to first discuss the risks.  This will help prevent damage to comic books when you first start practicing.  If the risks are already in your mind before you begin, you are less inclined to make these classic mistakes.  Refer to Fig 10.2 from Chapter 10 for a visual aid of dry-cleaning mistakes commonly made.  Here is a list of the most common mistakes (in alphabetical order) during the dry-cleaning stage:

• ABSORENE PRESSING Flat indented circle spots on cover.  This is caused by leaving residual trace amounts of Absorene Book Cleaner Putty on book cover surface prior to pressing.  After pressing, the putty has fused to cover and is often permanent.   Make sure all contamination is removed from the book cover surfaces prior to pressing any comic book. 

• ABSORENE PUTTY BOND Absorene Book Cleaner Putty should be used only on older books with covers that are not glossy or shiny.   Avoid modern comic books with paper thin covers.  The putty can easily rub into the book cover and cause severe and permanent damage.  Areas of gloss might cause sticking on any vintage comic book using Absorene putty as well.  Test a small area out first before doing the entire cover with heavy usage of putty.  (Gloss thickness) 

• BRITTLE PAGES Liquid cleaning will result in brittle pages and color loss.  Grade loss and loss of value is also heavily dependent on page quality, and not just on stains.

• BURNT PAPER Using a tack iron on too high of a temperature setting will burn the cover and interior pages.  This causes ink transfer and color rub.  Keep the setting down low to a level 1 or 2 on the dial.  Rarely use number 3, if ever. Digital tack irons should be on their lowest setting of 212F with a few sheets of copy paper in between the iron and page being treated.  Do not keep the iron in any one spot for longer than one second at a time.

• COLOR RUB Color rub happens from too much pressure during dent removal from backer board ink transfer loss, extreme heat with tack iron, or scuffing the surface of book cover while cleaning using Melamine foam erasers. 

• CONSERVED LABEL Heavy cleaning will result to a grey "CONSERVED" label with third party grading companies.  This is considered a less severe form of a Restored label.  Can lower the value by 25% when compared to a matching counterpart Universal Blue Label of the exact same book, on average.  Greatly dependant on the popularity of issue being evaluated.

• CREASE DIRT Unfolding a corner flap crease on front cover or back cover of comic book without checking inside or opposite side of page.  Creases often leave a dirt residue on the outside edge.  When pressing flat a crease, there is a dirt line that remains.  Clean all dirty creaselines before pressing a comic book.  Foam erasers can trap dirt inside creases.  

• CREASING Using fast quick movements with back-and-forth motions on outside edges of covers will cause creasing.  Slow, steady, patient movement with outward motion towards edges and corners of covers protects from creasing.

• COVER TEARS Using Absorene Book Cleaner putty around tears horizontally will cause larger tears.  Always travel vertically along a rip or tear. 

• COVER RIPS Dry cleaning too fast rips covers.  Slow down.

• COVER WRINKLING Keep elbows and wrists away from covers while dry cleaning.  Use an assembled magazine backer board and bag to rest on top of book area that isn't being cleaned. 

• DIRT ABOVE COVER Alternatively, leaving dirt above cover during dry cleaning is often caused by simply flipping sides.   Not having a clean work surface will cause dirt to stick to side you just cleaned.  This will easily press a divot or tiny dent onto cover.  Make sure all contamination is removed from book cover surfaces prior to pressing any comic book. 

• DIRT UNDER COVER Leaving dirt under cover during dry cleaning is often caused by flipping sides and using same srp paper or cardstock paper under cover from opposite side.   Not having a clean work surface can also cause dirt to stick to SRP Paper or Cardstock Paper.  This will easily press a outwards dent or tiny bubble on cover.  Make sure all contamination is removed from book cover surfaces prior to pressing any comic book.

• ERASURE MARKS This happens using too much pressure with eraser products.  Most common.   Use light pressure, using only the weight of your wrist. 

• FLAKING Tiny bits of loose chipping will come off while attempting to clean outside edges of book covers.  All you can do is try to prevent loose flaking by resting a clean assembled magazine backer board and bag on top of edge while cleaning around edge. 

• GLOSS LOSS Using any form of eraser with too much pressure or friction will remove the very top layer of gloss.  This is not repairable without restoration of gloss coating.  Light circular swirls, using no pressure, ensure protection of the top layer of gloss.  Taking regular breaks to clean off eraser or replacing eraser head prevents friction buildup. 

• LIQUID CLEANING Cleaning comic books using liquid or any form of moisture comes with many risks.  The two most common cleaning agents are distilled water or hydrogen peroxide.  Paper fiber can become too malleable and fall apart, causing tears, ripping, and color loss.  Attempting to remove heavy staining or tide lines should be done with extreme caution and hundreds of hours of practice using this method.  The greatest risk is loss of cover gloss even if done conservatively.  Grading companies have been known to mention "Cover cleaned" or "Heavy cleaning to cover" in notes before.  The risk of failure is high using this method.  Recommended for experienced veteran pressers only.

• RESTORED LABEL Heavy cleaning can also result to a "RESTORED" label with third party grading companies.  This is considered a severe form of grading due to aggressive dry cleaning or liquid cleaning methods.   Can lower the value by 50% when compared to a matching counterpart Universal Blue Label of the exact same book, on average.  Greatly dependent on the popularity of issue being evaluated.  Hulk 181 would be an example of a book that likely would go for the same value as a blue label book, when compared to a restored label of the same grade.

• SCRAPING You must scrape off food or dirt particles stuck to cover. Otherwise, it becomes a catalyst for mold and bacteria growth.  You also will press a dent into cover and subsequent pages from the particle left on cover.  Scraping and color rub are sometimes necessary before pressing any comic book.  If a comic book has color touch, scraping is the only way to remove for a clean certified label. 

• SCRATCHING Make sure work surface is clean and free of dirt.  Use pairs of assembled magazine backer boards and bags to move comic books around and flip.  Using aggressive quick methods to clean books can cause scratches from being too harsh and abrasive using any cleaning product. 

• SCUFFED STAPLES Cleaning rusty staples by scuffing the surface can be considered restoration.  Leave staples “as is” to prevent any sort of confusion over replacement. 

• SPINE SPLITS Using a backer board under cover while doing any sort of heavy dry cleaning will cause spine splits.  Try using 110 lb cardstock and SRP Paper under book cover and a magazine backer board at centerfold.