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Cleaning Books

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Del.Monte
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Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2021 10:11 pm
Location: The Sunny South East

Cleaning Books

#1

Post by Del.Monte »

I buy a lot of second-hand books and I am always looking for the best way to get rid of hard to remove stickers without damaging my purchases. It's not only charity shops but also booksellers that have a habit of using these offensive stickers - there are actually easy-peel stickers especially for books but word seems not to have filtered down to some of the trade.

Anyway, I finally cracked the problem today using a windscreen scraper and lighter fluid. Worked a treat, literally took seconds and with no sticky residue left behind. I also used a trick of my own to avoid any chance of damaging the book by removing the cover and placing it on an old diary of similar size while working on it. The only word of warning is that the lighter fluid is highly flammable, damaging to skin and extremely toxic if inhaled or swallowed - apart from that it's perfectly safe. :mrgreen:

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'no more blah blah blah'
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Osciiboscii
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 8:31 pm

Re: Cleaning Books

#2

Post by Osciiboscii »

Haven't tried it but I believe WD40 would work. I have a bottle of Sticky Stuff Remover for pesky jam jar labels.
490808
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Cleaning Books

#3

Post by 490808 »

Del.Monte wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:28 pm - apart from that it's perfectly safe. :mrgreen:
As long as you aren't tempted to sniff it then you'll be Mr Green :mrgreen:

I have bottle of IPA no not the beer Isopropyl Alcohol that I keep handy for similar jobs if that fails then I try Acetone but that does dissolve some plastics.
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Del.Monte
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Posts: 4931
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2021 10:11 pm
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Re: Cleaning Books

#4

Post by Del.Monte »

There's a lot of trial and error stuff involved with cleaning things and I remember years ago I often put cast iron signs in the Rayburn to burn off paint not a bother; one evening I tossed in a couple of cast aluminium ones only to open the door a few minutes later to find them skeletal outlines - an expensive mistake not repeated.
'no more blah blah blah'
490808
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Cleaning Books

#5

Post by 490808 »

Similarly I can remember cleaning a computer mouse off with Acetone and it dissolved :(
Cobham
Posts: 144
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:23 pm

Re: Cleaning Books

#6

Post by Cobham »

I would try 'magic eraser' on delicate things that might be damaged by chemicals etc.
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