Help - Comic Cover Stuck to Comic Bag - Tape? 1 1

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 9/4/2022 at 7:07 PM, joeypost said:

Who mentioned soaking a book. 

I’m just trying to find the line...

[kav]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:23 PM, Upgrayedd2 said:

I recently received a comic book from a store. They are great and I've been doing business with them for years.

When I tried to remove the comic, it would not come out. Thankfully, from learned lessons in the past, I chose to not force it and instead investigate why it's stuck. It appears a section of the cover is stuck to the comic bag (circled in blue in photos). It looks like a piece of tape. The store that sold it to me has agreed to refund my money if, in the process, a piece of the cover detaches and/or the comic gets damaged. At this point, I'm in it more for the adventure. I want to see if I can (1) detach the cover from the comic bag unscathed (2) identify what is stuck to the cover (3) remove it from the cover.

I am looking for any suggestions. My initial though it to slowly apply heat and work up the temp to see if that will detach the cover from the bag.

Thanks in advanced.

yes carefully cut around plastic bag with x acto knife, then use hair dryer to soften and carefully pull up.  kind of looks like old tape segment but not sure.  If residue left poss use kneaded rubber eraser to pull up?  See what @joeypost thinks.

ps comic threads go in comics general fyi-wider audience too.

Edited September 4, 2022 by kav

[Krismusic]

On 9/4/2022 at 7:03 PM, THE_BEYONDER said:

Don’t see that exception in the CGC restoration glossary 

I think the difference is your using a q tip/small cotton swab or ball to touch a small spot where the tape/glue is to help remove it the cleaning cgc is classifying is soaking entire books or coves/pages in distilled water and with chemicals to remove age of the book etc 

[Upgrayedd2]

On 9/4/2022 at 1:02 PM, Artboy99 said:

What grade of book did you purchase? I ask because that sticky residue is definitely on the book and you may be better off simply returning the book as it is rather than trying to "fix" it. You may not have received what you purchased in the first place.

The seller graded the book at a 5. To me, that's a conservative grade. The only items (beside the gunk) are ticks along the spine at the staples, color breaking crease above the DC logo, barely visible crease on bottom right. Other than those items, there are no creases, finger bends or any other visible discrepancies on the front cover. As for the back, super, super clean. No creases or defects.

The seller has already offered to fully compensate me for the purchase. In addition, they also agreed to let me try to remove the comic from the bag and then removed the gunk from the cover. They said if at anytime the comic is damaged, they would refund me the full amount. 

As you can see, I've successfully removed the comic from the bag.

[Upgrayedd2]

I used a heat gun on low. It took less than 3 seconds for the gunk to detach from the comic book cover. 

Here is a close up of the gunk. It feels sticky. The best way to describe it is if you scrapped the sticky part of tape and applied it to the cover. I cannot tell what the small white area is on the right. It could be part of the gunk or pulling of color from the cover.

At this point, I have t figure out how to proceed. The two recommendations I've received from forum members are: (1) naphtha or (2) kneaded rubber eraser. Still thinking about it. I will also reach out to the seller to see what they think.

[joeypost]

The white looks like you lifted some of the ink off. Is the area raised?

[MetalPSI]

Are qtips a good tool to use for this type of application?

[Upgrayedd2]

On 9/12/2022 at 3:36 PM, joeypost said:

The white looks like you lifted some of the ink off. Is the area raised?

I am unable to determine what the white is. Hopefully once I get additional feedback on how to proceed with removing the gunk, I will be able to determine what the white portion is.

[Upgrayedd2]

On 9/12/2022 at 4:45 PM, The Meta said:

Are qtips a good tool to use for this type of application?

I believe the q-tip material would get stuck to the gunk.

[MetalPSI]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:53 PM, Upgrayedd2 said:

I believe the q-tip material would get stuck to the gunk.

Was wondering that

[Dr. Balls]

On 9/3/2022 at 4:20 PM, jokiing said:

If the tape is not dried out but won't peel off easily you can try a bit of lighter fluid.... or maybe someone knows of a better solvent. Be sure to use backing so that it doesn't get onto interior pages. I've used this method on blister cards with some success. Doesn't seem to stain and evaporates quickly. Good luck.

+1 unless someone has a better chemical to help.

[marvelmaniac]

Not sure how it works on paper but 91% Isopropyl Alcohol is not only used on cuts/scrapes but is designed to clean things that cannot get wet such as printed circuit boards and other electronic devices, it dries very quickly, 70% does not dry as quickly, has more water.

[joeypost]

On 9/13/2022 at 11:57 AM, marvelmaniac said:

Not sure how it works on paper but 91% Isopropyl Alcohol is not only used on cuts/scrapes but is designed to clean things that cannot get wet such as printed circuit boards and other electronic devices, it dries very quickly, 70% does not dry as quickly, has more water.

All depends on the glue or adhesive. Some are water based, most are not. In my line of work I find alcohol rarely helps remove most tape/sticker residue. 
 

I have already posted what works best for me. 

[jokiing]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:45 PM, The Meta said:

Are qtips a good tool to use for this type of application?

Not "Q-Tips", but cotton swabs that are used for cleaning such things as electronics. Stiffer and tightly bound (usually on a wooden stick), it shouldn't leave fibers behind if wet with a touch of Naphtha.

[LowGradeBronze]

With magnification and a steady hand you could just touch & soften the gunk without really contacting the cover itself too much. Practice on something cheap first so you're not shaking with fear when you approach this comic. I think it should turn out well.

[GACollectibles]

Best way to approach this is to get another book from same era, stick a piece of tape to it & put it in a bag, mail it to yourself to simulate similar conditions of book you want to clean up, practice on that one.

Oh yeah, and listen to Joey.

Edited September 14, 2022 by GACollectibles