How do you tell if a book has been cleaned?

[piper]

[djpinkpanther67]

If the label comes back purple

[piper]

If the label comes back purple

 

Well that's definitely one way to tell.

[PokerKid]

Rough feel, or soap bubbles when you press down on the book are the two best ways.

[Ze-man]

 

Do you mean dry, solvent or wet cleaned?

 

Kinda a lot to cover but here goes a real quick rundown

 

Dry cleaned covers will be very white in the white areas and soiled or dirty in the inked areas because you can't really remove dirt/soil without removing inks. So if you see a book with pretty whites and dirty spots on the inked areas..it was probably dry cleaned. (or an easy way to spot it is if there is still pencil marks in the inked area or indentations from writing even after being erased)

 

If a book was solvent washed that means the tanning(mainly on SA covers) was reduced, but without seeing a before scan it is hard to really say for sure. One way is to compare the interior cover to the interior pages. If you see a dramatic difference then the cover was probably solvent washed. On the otherhand solvents are also how most tape is removed from a cover, so if you see a book that has a tape stain( the outline or shape where tape was that damaged the coverstock and is set into the paper and many times if it is really bad it looks like the area is almost oily and see through)

 

Wet washing is different, if a cover was wet washed it will feel different mainly because the sizing or clay was washed out of the book. The cover can feel rough,pourous or just flimsy and thin overall. If a cover was wet washed it probably had staining , and unless it was totally removed by washing many times you will still see a tide line from the stain. So if a cover looks clean but has what looks to be a faded stain many times it was wet washed. Also bone white whites, if you see a cover with bone white whites it probably was wet washed, many times with cleaning/bleaching agents.(and again, compare it to the interior PQ)

 

Keep in mind normally if a cover has had any type of resto work done, it was probably cleaned on some level. And if you are going to wet wash a cover you always dry clean it first or else the dirt would be set in permanantly. Covers are not normally "just cleaned"

 

Reglossing is another issue, many times depending on what was used to resize the cover it can feel stiff, too thick, glossy or even worse brush marks. But if done correctly you should not notice in hand anything other then a supple semi glossy cover.

 

So when you see the notation "cover cleaned" it can cover quite a lot of area.

 

[Jayman]

Reglossing is another issue, many times depending on what was used to resize the cover it can feel stiff, too thick, glossy or even worse brush marks. But if done correctly you should not notice in hand anything other then a supple semi glossy cover.

 

Great info Kenny!

This last point re: reglossing always scares me (because I don't know enough about it). I often hear in the description with older books FS or on ebay "Great gloss on this GA beauty!" and I wonder how common/easy reglossing is?

[Mr. Zipper]

Wet washing is different, if a cover was wet washed it will feel different mainly because the sizing or clay was washed out of the book. The texture can feel rough,pourous or just flimsy and thin overall.

 

Is there any way to reintroduce sizing, or is reglossing the only way to correct the flimsy cover?

[Ze-man]

Wet washing is different, if a cover was wet washed it will feel different mainly because the sizing or clay was washed out of the book. The texture can feel rough,pourous or just flimsy and thin overall.

 

Is there any way to reintroduce sizing, or is reglossing the only way to correct the flimsy cover?

 

 

Actually yes, you can add sizing to the final wet wash rinse and it seems to add something back to the cover. But brushing, spraying, dipping it on soon afterwards is what makes the cover look and feel reglossed and more natural. As well as adding quite a bit of flexibility and strength to the paper. I have heard that gelatin is used for this as well but I am not sure how well it ages(becomes brown).

 

Basically reglossing, and resizing are one and the same. Well kinda, while you can "regloss" a comic by spraying it with starch or other fixatives it is just "glossed" but not sized. But if you "resize" a cover it is for all intentional purposes "reglossed" because the side benefit of sizing is gloss. If that makes sense.

 

I think I said sized and glossy one to many times.

 

 

 

 

[Jayman]

What is the size of the gloss and how glossy is the sizing?

[Ze-man]

Reglossing is another issue, many times depending on what was used to resize the cover it can feel stiff, too thick, glossy or even worse brush marks. But if done correctly you should not notice in hand anything other then a supple semi glossy cover.

 

Great info Kenny!

This last point re: reglossing always scares me (because I don't know enough about it). I often hear in the description with older books FS or on ebay "Great gloss on this GA beauty!" and I wonder how common/easy reglossing is?

 

I think sometimes you will see a comic that has been sprayed with something to make it look shiny. The question would be is how does it feel more then how does it look.

 

[Ze-man]

What is the size of the gloss and how glossy is the sizing?

 

You have totally glossed over a sizable portion of my post.

 

You sir are an ignoramus!

 

[Jayman]

What is the size of the gloss and how glossy is the sizing?

 

You have totally glossed over a sizable portion of my post.

 

You sir are an ignoramus!

 

 

That's about the size of it!

[VintageComics]

Kenny you forgot to mention that there are different types of cleanings that garner PLODs. There is water based cleaning and solvent based.

 

Some are easier to detect than others.

 

R.

 

 

[Jayman]

Reglossing is another issue, many times depending on what was used to resize the cover it can feel stiff, too thick, glossy or even worse brush marks. But if done correctly you should not notice in hand anything other then a supple semi glossy cover.

 

Great info Kenny!

This last point re: reglossing always scares me (because I don't know enough about it). I often hear in the description with older books FS or on ebay "Great gloss on this GA beauty!" and I wonder how common/easy reglossing is?

 

I think sometimes you will see a comic that has been sprayed with something to make it look shiny. The question would be is how does it feel more then how does it look.

 

 

Well that is where I'm unsure. GA books have such a different feel to them than BA or even moderns of which I'm more familiar.

That along with the aging of the gloss/sizing make it almost impossible (for me) to tell from just the feel.

 

I guess some questions I'd like to know are:

1. Are most GA covers as glossy on both sides (inside and out) to begin with?

2. "If" a gloss was sprayed on would it be only on the outside front and back cover, or would it also be applied to the inside?

3. If an outside cover of a GA book was much glossier than the inside cover, would that be a good indication that it may have been reglossed?

4. I notice certain inks on covers appear dull when held at an angle to the light, some blacks for instance. If a cover appears totally gloss covered, is that a sign of reglossing/resizing?

[piper]

Kenny you forgot to mention that there are different types of cleanings that garner PLODs. There is water based cleaning and solvent based.

 

Some are easier to detect than others.

 

R.

 

 

Are all forms of cleaning considered restoration by CGC?

[Ze-man]

Kenny you forgot to mention that there are different types of cleanings that garner PLODs. There is water based cleaning and solvent based.

 

Some are easier to detect than others.

 

R.

 

 

Are all forms of cleaning considered restoration by CGC?

 

I believe just dry cleaning is not considered restoration in itself by CGC.

 

And I am not sure what you mean Roy, I thought I pretty much covered all of that. The different types of cleaning, how to possibly detect them and how they are all normally part of a larger restoration process.

 

What did I forget to mention?

 

 

[VintageComics]

Sorry Ze, I actually missed a post. My bad.

 

 

Piper, the reason cleaning gets a PLOD is because the book is dis-assembled AND the paper is treated with a solvent or water. Dry cleaning is basically removal of dirt with an erasure or similar. It's tough to detect and really does not do anything to the book. It's almost like simply wiping off a layer of dust.

 

R.

 

 

[Designer Toast]

If the label comes back purple

 

[divad]

Reglossing is another issue, many times depending on what was used to resize the cover it can feel stiff, too thick, glossy or even worse brush marks. But if done correctly you should not notice in hand anything other then a supple semi glossy cover.

 

Great info Kenny!

This last point re: reglossing always scares me (because I don't know enough about it). I often hear in the description with older books FS or on ebay "Great gloss on this GA beauty!" and I wonder how common/easy reglossing is?

 

I think sometimes you will see a comic that has been sprayed with something to make it look shiny. The question would be is how does it feel more then how does it look.

 

 

Actually, follow your nose . . . reglossed books smell different.

[divad]

Sorry Ze, I actually missed a post. My bad.

 

 

Piper, the reason cleaning gets a PLOD is because the book is dis-assembled AND the paper is treated with a solvent or water. Dry cleaning is basically removal of dirt with an erasure or similar. It's tough to detect and really does not do anything to the book. It's almost like simply wiping off a layer of dust.

 

R.

 

 

Except for the fact, that if done improperly, dry cleaning can really damage a book in many ways. I really don't like that noobs are encouraged to do it, and personally, I hate buying books that have been dry-cleaned . . . give me good ol' spine dirt every time, thank you