What is C+P good for? 1 1

[Yale Stewart]

Hello, I'm just curious what the benefits to C+P are. I guess my biggest question is if one of the benefits is helping to fix spine roll. I feel like I've seen that mentioned as a reason to have it done before, but I couldn't remember, and figured I could ask you all. Thanks so much!

[comicginger1789]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:51 PM, Yale Stewart said:

Hello, I'm just curious what the benefits to C+P are. I guess my biggest question is if one of the benefits is helping to fix spine roll. I feel like I've seen that mentioned as a reason to have it done before, but I couldn't remember, and figured I could ask you all. Thanks so much!

Cleaning (dry cleaning which is not seen as restoration by CGC), removes contact dirt and contact soiling. It can make white areas whiter, especially the back covers of many older books thus improving their appearance and grade.

Pressing flattens the book, eliminating (most often) dents and dings and bends and non colour breaking creases. It can also be used to fix a spine roll on a book if done by a professional without damaging the book. 

All of these things have the potential to improve the grade of the book and if one cares about it, the value as well

Certain defects (colour breaking spine ticks, creases, stains, rips, sun fading, foxing, etc) are all not something that cleaning and pressing can fix. It really comes down to knowing what defects can be repaired to determine whether it is worth doing. You could have a 4.0 book that still stays a 4.0 book because the small ding that was smoothened out to improve it is not enough to warrant a grade bump if the comic has a rip and lots of spine wear and marks still present

[Yale Stewart]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:11 PM, comicginger1789 said:

Cleaning (dry cleaning which is not seen as restoration by CGC), removes contact dirt and contact soiling. It can make white areas whiter, especially the back covers of many older books thus improving their appearance and grade.

Pressing flattens the book, eliminating (most often) dents and dings and bends and non colour breaking creases. It can also be used to fix a spine roll on a book if done by a professional without damaging the book. 

All of these things have the potential to improve the grade of the book and if one cares about it, the value as well

Certain defects (colour breaking spine ticks, creases, stains, rips, sun fading, foxing, etc) are all not something that cleaning and pressing can fix. It really comes down to knowing what defects can be repaired to determine whether it is worth doing. You could have a 4.0 book that still stays a 4.0 book because the small ding that was smoothened out to improve it is not enough to warrant a grade bump if the comic has a rip and lots of spine wear and marks still present

Thanks! That's really helpful. Yeah, like I said my biggest thing is spine roll, and honestly, it's for my own comfort of readability. Obviously I'd need to gauge against cost, but heavily spine rolled comics make me nervous when I read them, and I like reading my old books lol.

[Galen130]

On 1/21/2022 at 11:11 AM, comicginger1789 said:

Cleaning (dry cleaning which is not seen as restoration by CGC), removes contact dirt and contact soiling. It can make white areas whiter, especially the back covers of many older books thus improving their appearance and grade.

Pressing flattens the book, eliminating (most often) dents and dings and bends and non colour breaking creases. It can also be used to fix a spine roll on a book if done by a professional without damaging the book. 

All of these things have the potential to improve the grade of the book and if one cares about it, the value as well

Certain defects (colour breaking spine ticks, creases, stains, rips, sun fading, foxing, etc) are all not something that cleaning and pressing can fix. It really comes down to knowing what defects can be repaired to determine whether it is worth doing. You could have a 4.0 book that still stays a 4.0 book because the small ding that was smoothened out to improve it is not enough to warrant a grade bump if the comic has a rip and lots of spine wear and marks still present

This….

Know-it-all!!! 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:11 PM, comicginger1789 said:

Cleaning (dry cleaning which is not seen as restoration by CGC), removes contact dirt and contact soiling. It can make white areas whiter, especially the back covers of many older books thus improving their appearance and grade.

Pressing flattens the book, eliminating (most often) dents and dings and bends and non colour breaking creases. It can also be used to fix a spine roll on a book if done by a professional without damaging the book. 

All of these things have the potential to improve the grade of the book and if one cares about it, the value as well

Certain defects (colour breaking spine ticks, creases, stains, rips, sun fading, foxing, etc) are all not something that cleaning and pressing can fix. It really comes down to knowing what defects can be repaired to determine whether it is worth doing. You could have a 4.0 book that still stays a 4.0 book because the small ding that was smoothened out to improve it is not enough to warrant a grade bump if the comic has a rip and lots of spine wear and marks still present

[Yale Stewart]

Also, if you know any folks who specialize in pressing out spine rolls, feel free to drop a link. I'd love to get an idea on pricing.

[comicginger1789]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:23 PM, Yale Stewart said:

Thanks! That's really helpful. Yeah, like I said my biggest thing is spine roll, and honestly, it's for my own comfort of readability. Obviously I'd need to gauge against cost, but heavily spine rolled comics make me nervous when I read them, and I like reading my old books lol.

How severe we talking? Stuff like the example below never really bothers me when reading. Presents better after sure, but I don't think you need to worry too much while reading. I honestly worry more about pressing these because I have seen more amateur (and even some professionals) who when pressing this, they pop the staple. And popped staples bother me a lot. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by comicginger1789

[Yale Stewart]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:35 PM, comicginger1789 said:

How severe we talking? Stuff like the example below never really bothers me when reading. Presents better after sure, but I don't think you need to worry too much while reading. I honestly worry more about pressing these because I have seen more amateur (and even some professionals) who when pressing this, they pop the staple. And popped staples bother me a lot. 

 

Honestly that popped staple information already has me second guessing, lol. I do have some books with pretty severe spine roll, where if you look at it from the back cover there's like a full 0.75-1" worth of pages viewable, but I don't know. The price is probably more than I'd care to spend anyway. It's something I'd be willing to pay $5-10 for maybe, but since so many people are using C+P for investment purposes I imagine the prices reflect that.

[revat]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:40 AM, Yale Stewart said:

On 1/21/2022 at 10:35 AM, comicginger1789 said:

How severe we talking? Stuff like the example below never really bothers me when reading. Presents better after sure, but I don't think you need to worry too much while reading. I honestly worry more about pressing these because I have seen more amateur (and even some professionals) who when pressing this, they pop the staple. And popped staples bother me a lot. 

 

Honestly that popped staple information already has me second guessing, lol. I do have some books with pretty severe spine roll, where if you look at it from the back cover there's like a full 0.75-1" worth of pages viewable, but I don't know. The price is probably more than I'd care to spend anyway. It's something I'd be willing to pay $5-10 for maybe, but since so many people are using C+P for investment purposes I imagine the prices reflect that.

Your location says you're in St. Louis, which is a fairly major city.  So if I were you, I'd call an LCS or two and see if they know local pressers or would be amateur pressers, and you can hopefully get a cheap rate or let them practice on your spine rolls for free, assuming your books aren't too valuable.  If some are valuable, let them practice and build trust on your cheap ones first.

[comicginger1789]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:40 PM, Yale Stewart said:

Honestly that popped staple information already has me second guessing, lol. I do have some books with pretty severe spine roll, where if you look at it from the back cover there's like a full 0.75-1" worth of pages viewable, but I don't know. The price is probably more than I'd care to spend anyway. It's something I'd be willing to pay $5-10 for maybe, but since so many people are using C+P for investment purposes I imagine the prices reflect that.

Yes, in Canada a press and clean range from $15-25/30. I imagine its similar if using someone stateside and I forget what CGC charges (its somewhere on their site for sure)

And yes the popped staple happens if the paper is a little weak. With Golden Age era books, this can be common. I had a horror story (my own fault partially for not vetting people well enough) where an amateur presser tried to fix a spine roll on a Hulk 180 and the staple popped. I learned quick to get references and spend the extra money to have it done right if I want it done right. 

[William-James88]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:51 PM, Yale Stewart said:

Hello, I'm just curious what the benefits to C+P are. I guess my biggest question is if one of the benefits is helping to fix spine roll. I feel like I've seen that mentioned as a reason to have it done before, but I couldn't remember, and figured I could ask you all. Thanks so much!

check out this thread. It was a contest to see what grades the books came back after C+P

You can see the grades they came back in and see how much they improved compared to what you might think the initial grade was

 

[joeypost]

[MattTheDuck]

As someone once opined, "Nuff said."