Stain removal - restoration or not?

[Transplant]

This thread in the PGM section has a book with chocolate on the cover. I've seen books where a similar type of surface stain/substance is present on the cover. My question is whether removal of such would constitute restoration?

 

Specifically, I'm thinking of situations where the staining substance has not penetrated the paper fibers. Usually, this would be like chocolate of some other thick substance on top of a cover that still has a lot of gloss. How would one remove something like that? Qtip with deionized water? Some kind of solvent? Seems to me that the harsher the substance used to remove it, the closer to restoration. I could imagine that this is different from a tape removal where a solvent is used to remove the adhesive and underlying paper fibers have been affected from the adhesive.

 

Thoughts??

[joeypost]

If the chocolate were surface only I cannot see it being considered restoration since nothing is being done to the original book. It would be similar to peeling off a sticker that left no residue. Impossible to prove and detect.

 

If the chocolate (it has oils in it) stains the fibers of the book thats a different story. Removing those would constitute restoration since you had to remove or take something out of the book that was not originally there.

[divad]

Why Club Soda, of course . . .

[Transplant]

I hadn't really considered the oils that might be in some substances. Personally, it seems like removing any item that doesn't penetrate the surface would not be resto. I just keep thinking of the example of tape.

[joeypost]

VMP Naptha works in getting tape residue off of a book...not sure about oils from chocolate or other marks.

[silverage12c]

Or, just get the family pet to gnaw it off and lick off the residue!