8 Cleaning Tools That Can Save (or Ruin) Your Most Valuable Issues

Image source: Nikkimeel/ shutterstock

When I was a child, one of my brothers drew on my Avengers comic with a pencil. It was my little brother. I had to be understanding and let it go. It is not even a valuable comic today, but the comic still has some graphite smudges. If you have the interest and patience, there are eight simple and affordable tools you can use to clean and restore your most valuable comics.

You can definitely clean and try to restore your own comics, but at your own risk. You may be better off commissioning a professional comic cleaning service. However, here are eight basic tools you can use to get started. Make sure your hands are clean and dirt-free before you begin.

1. Light

The best way to start restoring your most valuable issues is to use the right light sources. You need a bright light to work, right? The light should emit 50 lux, or lumens per square meter, so it does not emit too much heat and damage the comic. You also need to be careful about lights that emit UV rays. The longer you work on restoring the comic, especially if it is rare and fragile, the less UV risk you want to incur. UV light causes discoloration, fading, and brittleness in paper.

LED light bulbs emit the least amount of UV. Incandescent and halogen light bulbs emit negligible levels of UV. Incandescent bulbs are probably the worst ones to use relative to the amount of UV light they emit. However, using a light shield with an incandescent light lessens the risk. You may also want to angle the light toward the paper instead of directing it overhead. Make sure the light is not so bright as to obscure your view.

2. Magnifying Glass

Get a handheld magnifying glass or a maneuverable one connected to a stand. You want to be able to inspect every inch of the paper’s surface area. It does not make any sense to go through all this trouble to miss spots that need cleaning or restoring. Angle your light source; do not position it directly over the magnifying glass. Also, never leave a light source over a magnifying glass over paper unsupervised.

3. Cotton Makeup Remover Pads

Remember, if you’re going to clean your most valuable comics, then keep it simple. You don’t need to get the most expensive cleaning tools. You could get cheap cotton balls to help you gently remove layers of dust and grime from the paper. It might be better to use unused makeup remover pads. Also, make sure that the makeup remover pads don’t contain any solvents, lotion, scents, and so on.

Lightly and very gently run the pads back and forth across the paper. Examine the amount of dust and grime on the pad with each pass, and use new pads as necessary. Do not rub the pads in concentric circles. You don’t want to accidentally cause the wear and tear you’re trying to prevent.

4. Professional Art Cleaning Pad

Cotton balls and makeup remover pads don’t impress you? You can get professional art cleaning pads. This is the professional version and upgrade from the budget-conscious cotton balls and makeup remover pads. This three-ounce pad features a gum eraser center that absorbs dust, grime, and pencil marks without damaging the paper. You can use it gingerly over large swathes of paper, but it is not good for small, strategic areas.

Buy a three-ounce cleaning pad for $8.99 on Amazon now. According to the manufacturer, as long as you use it to clean art, you technically don’t have to wash it.

5. Absorene Putty

Absorene putty is a non-toxic, reusable, putty-like eraser that is used to clean fragile, rare, and valuable documents. This is the material that museum curators, document historians, archaeologists, and librarians use when they restore vital documents. It’s also used by the professional comic book restoration services that could be commissioned.

So, you will need it to clean and restore your most valuable issues. Absorene putty is used to specifically clear dust, grime, and marks from the color areas in a comic. You should only use absorene putty in soft, gentle dabbing and rolling motions. Never grind or rub it into the paper like an eraser. You can then give the area a pass with a clean makeup remover pad.

You can also use absorene putty to clean jackets, car upholstery, and laptop screens. You can buy some at Amazon for $14.

6. Helix White Eraser Tops

Eraser tops are used regularly by kindergartners and middle schoolers to erase pencil marks on paper. Also known as cap erasers, they are triangular-shaped eraser caps with a flat top that you can stick on top of a pencil. You can also use them to softly erase smudges and grime from the white parts of comic covers. Only use gentle rolling strokes and dabbing strokes in strategic areas on the covers of your most valuable issues.

You can get 10 Helix eraser tops for $8.50 on Amazon.

7. White Precision Tip Eraser

This is a white eraser nib that is only a few millimeters wide, almost like the tip of a pen or pencil. You can use your magnifying glass to strategically target and clean very small white-colored areas of your most valuable issues. Just remember, only use soft strokes and soft rolling motions. Be gentle with your movements, or you could poke a hole in your comic.

Get one with two refills for $7.98 now on Amazon.

8. Cardboard Backing Boards

You can use cardboard backing boards to protect the back of the comic as you work on it and to keep it in place. After identifying the areas you need to clean, you can cut the corresponding area out of the backing board. Then, you can place the board on the comic and work on the cleaning area while covering the rest of the comic, like an operation.

Cleaning and Restoring Your Most Valuable Issues

As previously mentioned, this is the most basic way to do some dry-erasing and restoration of your comic books. I would highly recommend that you practice on some older comics before you work on any comics of value. Get in some good practice before you try to clean or restore any comic you own of value.

I would also highly recommend that you never do this on any comic book you believe is extremely valuable. Always get a professional to restore or clean your most valuable issues.

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