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white bread

Started by blackterror,

13 posts in this topic

blackterror

blackterror

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I got to searching the white bread thing .... and see it suggested in multiple places as a way to remove dirt from a book. Say a white cover or perhaps on the back. One thread even has a guy saying he is going to attempt it on a variety of books and he would report back. Which he never did.

 

First different books have different paper stocks ... I suppose ... but in general 60's and 70's DC's and Marvels. If you take a piece of white bread and push ... rub ... a book say an unobtrusive spot ... no ink to smear ... say the edge of the back cover ... will it remove general surface dirt?

 

Isn't bread inherently ... greasy/oily ... I used to collect football collector cards in loaves of bread and they were sort of oily ... or some of them were?

 

Anyway ... even if this removed some of the dirt/dinginess ... would it then put an oil or something on the book.

 

Is this something the comic book pressers do? Is it considered restoration? I'm being general here and not a purist ... say it's a 7.0 Defenders 20 something or Batman 200 something ... or heck even a soiled Avengers 4 white cover ... if I pressed a piece of white bread on the book would it damage the book? Clean the book? Leave an oily discoloration? Is this detectable? A myth ... I've heard the prhase give a book the "white bread" treatment ... is it a myth or is it real? This would be good for an episode of Mythbusters ... heck a whole episode on paper treatment would make for a good episode.

 

Anyway has anybody done this and what were your results? I admit I'm to lazy and risk adverse I suppose to have tried, but my enquiring mind wants to know. Thanks for any replies.on topic replies.

 

 

 

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Green

Green

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Posted

Is this something the comic book pressers do? Is it considered restoration? I'm being general here and not a purist ... say it's a 7.0 Defenders 20 something or Batman 200 something ... or heck even a soiled Avengers 4 white cover ... if I pressed a piece of white bread on the book would it damage the book? Clean the book? Leave an oily discoloration? Is this detectable? A myth ... I've heard the prhase give a book the "white bread" treatment ... is it a myth or is it real?

 

 

As concise as possible. White-bread method is a term used to describe 'poor mans' dry cleaning. I say 'poor mans' because there are more reliable methods of dry cleaning.

 

 

Pressers and nonpressers dry clean, but no dry cleaning is not considered restoration by CGC. YMMV

 

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blackterror

blackterror

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Thanks for your response green. Now it would seem to me that bread is so soft that it would be more gentle than anything else, but can't imagine it removing much dirt.

 

What is the more reliable dry cleaning you are talking about? An eraser? Wouldn't that sort of rub on the book and take away gloss? And be detectable? Unless done with extreme care?

 

For the life of me all I can think of would be an eraser ... which might work on the back cover edge of a book ... but heck I'd never take an eraser to the cover of an Avengers 4 for general soiling ... even if I stayed away from the inks ...thered' then be whiter and brighter spots and dirtier spots ... it would be impossible to do with any consistency.

 

Of course if I just lightly squished the cover with a piece of white bread all over the cover ... it would be consistent.

 

I'm still wondering how effective is using a piece of white bread? Now I'm thinking of suggesting my son do something along this lines for his science fair project.

 

Which takes me back to ... would any dirt really come off ... would it show on the bread? Surely somebody has tried this ... and can comment in detail ... if you don't want to talk about it publicly me ... PM me ...

 

Thanks again ... judging from the looks so far this is an interesting topic to others as well as me ... Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

 

 

 

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Green

Green

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Ive done it. It does work, but of course it must leave behind oils. Its not hard , just take a moderate pinch of white bread, no crust and ball it up nice and tight and use it just like an eraser.

 

As far as something better. Yes erasers work, but dont just flip your trusty #2 over. There are various types of specialty erasers that are 'safer' . Theres always a risk.

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thehumantorch

thehumantorch

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Ive done it. It does work, but of course it must leave behind oils. Its not hard , just take a moderate pinch of white bread, no crust and ball it up nice and tight and use it just like an eraser.

 

As far as something better. Yes erasers work, but dont just flip your trusty #2 over. There are various types of specialty erasers that are 'safer' . Theres always a risk.

 

Avoid using Pumpernickel or 7 Grain bread. Pumpernickel can leave a brown residue and 7 Grain tastes great toasted but the nuts can damage your book. :tonofbricks:

 

Wonder if Sourdough would work. My favorite bread for toasting , yum.

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trmoore54

trmoore54

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I've done it with limited success...limited in the sense that it did remove some surface soiling, but not 100%. And then I felt to rub even harder would risk damaging the book...I'd say in general you can definitely improve the book's appearance relatively safely but there are many factors involved, firstly and mostly the level of soiling and how embedded it is into the paper...

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catrick339

catrick339

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Remember, when a manufacturer says that their bread is 95 percent fat free, that means that

 

it's 5 percent pure fat.

 

OF COURSE it's going to leave some oil behind.

 

I'd recommend this for lower grade books only.

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Not*Sure*

Not*Sure*

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Does anyone here lighten or whiten them with baking soda? I have never heard of using whitebread but I have these white semi solid erasers they are kind of like jellyish..they work well for removing minor surface dirt and are not as abrasive they won't "scratch" the glossy finish on the book. I have used baking soda (book in closed container but I don't remember exactly how it worked..my old boss at one of the comic book stores I worked at used a baking soda method..

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blackterror

blackterror

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I found this on youtube ... it's interesting ... and somewhat relevant.

 

 

Thanks for ontopic input so far. Still looking for some first hand knowledge or experimentation. Although it sounds like white bread is out. My son is going to do a science fair project on this topic ... or at least submit some idea along this lines to his teacher. Household alternative racers or some such.

 

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