Can reglossing be professionally removed/undone? 0

[UncleAnwar]

So I've had this Fantastic Four 5 in my collection forever, and I knew when I bought it that it had been reglossed.  It presents very well, but I've always wondered if someone who knows what they're doing (aka not me) could professionally remove the extra gloss that was applied?

Too risky?  Obviously I don't want to damage the book, but curious to know in general if reglossing can be removed or not.

Including some pics to show what the regloss looks like.  You can see there's some light colored staining to the cover from the regloss. Unfortunately I have no clue what was used in the process by whoever did it

[shadroch]

Twenty years ago, I shopped for a BB28 that had been re-glossed.   I was told it couldn't be undone, but the techniques are very different now.   I'm interested in the answers.   You have a nice book, either way. 

[UncleAnwar]

On 8/12/2024 at 12:17 PM, shadroch said:

Twenty years ago, I shopped for a BB28 that had been re-glossed.   I was told it couldn't be undone, but the techniques are very different now.   I'm interested in the answers.   You have a nice book, either way. 

@shadroch ha I actually saw your reply in a thread on this topic back from August 2010! 

14 years later and we're still left wondering

[shadroch]

If I found a way to successfully ungloss a book so CGC gave it a blue label, I'd be in no hurry to make it public.

[Paul Kosnik]

On 8/12/2024 at 10:56 AM, UncleAnwar said:

So I've had this Fantastic Four 5 in my collection forever, and I knew when I bought it that it had been reglossed.  It presents very well, but I've always wondered if someone who knows what they're doing (aka not me) could professionally remove the extra gloss that was applied?

How did you know when you bought it that it was reglossed?  I see there is a yellow tint to the book when viewed with flat lighting, but are there other clues?  Is the cover much stiffer than it ought to be?  Can you see using incident light that it's shinier than it ought to be?  Is the front cover really shiny but the back cover isn't?  Can you see that areas with color-breaking creases where the paper fibers are showing--paper fibers should be non-reflective, if they are glossy that is a good sign.

 

Reglossing (or just glossing as originally covers were not actually glossed) has been performed with shellac, hair spray, any number of materials.  May be possible to remove but as far as i know a conservator would just be making educated guesses about what was used and how to remove it.  Doesn't seem worth it unfortunately.