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The next scandal: UNDISCLOSED ABSORENE!

Started by The Charlton Guy-migration,

56 posts in this topic

Ze-man

Ze-man

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My exerience is that it will remove fingerprints to some degree. Depending on if it's a dirt/soil type of print, more oily prints will dictate how far into the paper fibers it went, and how far down you want to erase.

 

Surface fingerprint smudges made by ink transfer,dirt, dust etc.. can be almost completely removed. But if it was greasy or oily..forget about it. Doing a test area is advised.

 

I am surprised nobody use's good ol silly putty!...lift the entire top layer of ink!(which I did as a kid many many times. foreheadslap.gif

 

Ze-

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sckao

sckao

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What would be really funny is if ComicSupply and other sites also started selling WonderBread not as a food substance, but as a cleaning utensil. tongue.gif

 

I actually bought a loaf of Wonderbread once but I never got around to use it. Didn't eat it either so I eventually just tossed it. (My wife likes to buy the whole wheat/grain type breads.)

 

This substance also looks like it might be a good eraser for cleaning up penciled artwork.

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The Troll King

The Troll King

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Ok, I tried a magic eraser on an old beater comic.

 

It worked GREAT on the white parts of the back, but it did lift color on the front.

 

Plus, any sticky residue type stuff on the comic tended to darken before it actually was removed.

 

Oh well!

confused-smiley-013.gif

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The Charlton Guy-migration

The Charlton Guy-migration

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And it works great on zits!

 

How...

 

Nevermind.

 

Super Soft Cleansing Sponges for Sensitive Skin!

 

ispongeys.jpg

 

SKIN SPONGEYS:

 

"Skin spongeys are pink and blue discs made of super absorbent PVA. Moisten and this ultra soft sponge can be used to remove masks, makeup, and cleansers. Great for sensitive skin."

 

"They can be sterilized to prevent bacterial growth if you have sterilizing equipment. Imported from France."

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The Charlton Guy-migration

The Charlton Guy-migration

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A.P. News - Ashtabula - June 2nd, 2006:

 

"Absorene prices edged higher Friday after ending sharply lower in the previous session. Analysts said anxiety over would-be professional restoration "experts" ambitions continued to support comic-cleaning futures.

 

Most comic cleaning cartel members are already producing all the Absorene they can to take advantage of high prices. The lack of spare capacity around the world has led traders to build a premium into prices to account for a possible Absorene supply disruption that won‘t be offset.

 

Thursday‘s drop in Absorene prices was triggered by the announcement by the Comicsupply.com a day earlier that it was ready to join talks with CGC over its disputed non-restoration decree on cleaned comics on the condition that Ebay sellers first suspend all undisclosed comic cleaning activities.

 

Some traders took the development as a cooling off of tensions between The Charlton Guy and CS.com, but analysts said the market remained concerned about the possibility of disruptions to Absorene supply out of the Comic Market's second-largest producer.

 

U.S. Absolene companies have adamantly denied that they have acted to constrain Absolene or other comic restoration supplies.

 

The FTC is keeping an eye on Absorene prices, even though they have risen from a low of $10.39 a tub to today's unforseen high of $12.99 a tub, with the national average price foreseen to rise even higher with greater atention being paid to Absorene futures.

 

“The commission is very conscious of the swift and severe price spikes that occurred immediately before and after The Charlton Guy made his initial post on the CGC Message Board,” FTC Charman Seesel said.

 

 

 

 

I sense some price gouging going on here...

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The Charlton Guy-migration

The Charlton Guy-migration

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I have to wade back in on this one.

 

I rolled over the first time because I am new here and I thought that I had offended you. Something I try to avoid these days.

 

But the more I read it, the more ridiculous your response is to me, so here we go.

 

I'm not big on this quote thang, so bear with me.

 

why is this a scandal dry cleaning without disassembly is not restoration so what is the problem. This is CGCs view aswell as overstreets.

 

(My initial response to the above): I agree: A product that causes short and long term damage to the ink and paper quality of a book shouldn't be considered restoration.

 

It should be considered degradation.

 

 

Do you even have a clue about what you are talking about?

 

Yes, I believe I do.

 

From what I have seen this product doesn't do a darn thing to the ink or the paper. And if it did, then I wouldn't sell it.

 

I believe you, but I don't think you have fully thought out the implications of using this product on vintage and collectible comic books. And if I were you (a thought I am sure you will now find abhorant), I wouldn't sell it. And despite my earlier promise, which I must now renig on (as an educated buyer), I would never purchase or use it either.

 

Now sure, maybe in 50 years you will see a splotch or something that you don't recall and say it was the ABSORENE!!!! Although I highly doubt it as it doesn't have any staining affects at all that I have seen.

 

It won't take 50 years. Irriversible damage is caused to the gloss, ink, and paper quality of a piece of printed paper (of any age) when any foreign chemical is applied. Even the most innocuous substances, like baking powder, mild detergents, acid-reducers, will cause damage. Just because that damage is not immediately evident, does not mean it does not exist. Just because that damage is not evident in 50 years does not mean it does not exist. The mechanics of the paper itself and even the chemical composition of the ink has been changed by such an application. The degree of change is a moot point. It has been changed. When this change occurs, whether or not the appearance of the paper is improved is also a moot point. It can still be considered a change in the original and natural condition of the paper. Any chemical that is applied to printed paper can certainly be said to have caused damage. Irreversible damage.

 

I left a ball (size of a quarter) on a white covered book for about a week and when I took it off there was no marking. The paper did bubble a bit because the ball of it was wet and caused it to crinkle, however you wouldn't leave it on in the first place. I did it to show myself that it wouldn't stain.

 

That sounds like a very systematic and scientific procedure. Did you follow the instructions on the tub? Are there any instructions on the tub? More importantly, are the chemical ingrediants on the tub? Is there a warning on the tub as to degree of application or the amount of time that it should be applied or the type of paper it should or should not be applied to? Or were you just winging it and hoping for the best?

 

When the paper "bubbled" did you get your first indication that this was a wet chemical process as opposed to a dry one? Did you then question the advisibility of using a wet chemical of unknown compostion on a piece of color-printed paper?

 

Now that the cover is "bubbled" and "crinkled" are you going to have to have it pressed to "return it" to it's original state? It seems to me that "bubbling" and "crinkling" could easily be interpreted as "damage".

 

The only thing this product removes are contaminates such as Dirt, smoke and the likes. It certainly isn't a cure all, but to say it will damage the ink and paper is highly ignorant as I assume you have no clue as to how to even use it.

 

Are you sure that dirt and contaminants are all it removed? There was no sign of color or ink on the residue of this wadded up ball of chemicals?

 

And can I be certain that the ink and paper were damaged? Well, I wasn't there, but aren't you the one who said the the surface was "bubbled" and "crinkled"? then I would say that it is a very good bet that it did get damaged. Actually, it's a certainty based on your statement rgarding the results but of course I don't know to what degree, not having been there for your little experiment.

 

And I am not ignorant of restoration or the preservation of printed paper. I have been a dealer and collector of rare books, ephemera and comic books for twenty years. And I can tell you, any application of a chemical to a piece of printed paper should NOT be performed without knowing exactly what the chemical in question will do to the short and long term stability, legibility, clarity, mechanics and overall condition of a printed piece of paper. And yes, to it's change in value due to having been restored and the implications of the re-sale of the cleaned (restored) book on an unknowning or uncaring marketplace.

 

And as for the chemical cleaning of comic books not being considered restoration by the OPG and CGC, you have me there, they have shut the door on hundreds of years of restoration tradition, certitude and disclosure. I'm sure they know what they're doing.

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FFB

FFB

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It won't take 50 years. Irriversible damage is caused to the gloss, ink, and paper quality of a piece of printed paper (of any age) when any foreign chemical is applied. Even the most innocuous substances, like baking powder, mild detergents, acid-reducers, will cause damage. Just because that damage is not immediately evident, does not mean it does not exist. Just because that damage is not evident in 50 years does not mean it does not exist. The mechanics of the paper itself and even the chemical composition of the ink has been changed by such an application. The degree of change is a moot point. It has been changed. When this change occurs, whether or not the appearance of the paper is improved is also a moot point. It can still be considered a change in the original and natural condition of the paper. Any chemical that is applied to printed paper can certainly be said to have caused damage. Irreversible damage.

 

The same can be said of mere exposure of the comic book to air. Atmospheric pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (which exist in the air everywhere) are known to interact negatively with groundwood pulp paper, breaking down the cellulose chains that give the paper its strength and flexibility. And even something as simple as moisture results in acid hydrolysis, which leads to the degradation of paper. Light is similarly damaging to paper. And, of course, if you've read Tracey Heft's "Inherent Vice in Paper," you realize that even if you don't add any extraneous matter to groundwood pulp paper, it already contains high quantities of lignin, which will break down the cellulose chains -- in other words, paper is self-destructive. That's where this discussion goes, at its logical extreme.

 

Having said all that, the issue of whether Absorene is perfectly safe for paper or not is the subject of some apparent debate -- or at least it was almost 20 years ago. See the beginning of the discussion in the link, which references early studies of the use of Absorene on paper.

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The Charlton Guy-migration

The Charlton Guy-migration

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Awesome post as always ffb...

 

How ya doin'? hi.gif

 

And yes, paper is self-destructive. As it should be.

 

I'm not suggesting that paper/comics should not be restored or preserved, I am just suggesting that Absorene is probably not the way to do it.

 

The restoration thread is the place to be for this discussion I guess. I have spent many a night purveying the awesome posts there (including yours). I'll get into it eventually.

 

And hey, tell these people I'm not a weight-lifting trimmer, will ya?

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ComicSupply

ComicSupply

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Awesome post as always ffb...

 

How ya doin'? hi.gif

 

And yes, paper is self-destructive. As it should be.

 

I'm not suggesting that paper/comics should not be restored or preserved, I am just suggesting that Absorene is probably not the way to do it.

 

The restoration thread is the place to be for this discussion I guess. I have spent many a night purveying the awesome posts there (including yours). I'll get into it eventually.

 

And hey, tell these people I'm not a weight-lifting trimmer, will ya?

 

How strange that you knew which weigh lifting trimmer they were referring to.

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The Charlton Guy-migration

The Charlton Guy-migration

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Suffice it to say, I've seen his handiwork first-hand.

 

Again, no offence intended dude. I just had to get that off my chest (as alas, I was offended and could remain silent no more...sigh).

 

But you really should stop selling that gunk.

 

Or go into the wallpaper cleaning business.

 

Love your other wares though! I could use a few thousand Mylites...

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ComicSupply

ComicSupply

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Suffice it to say, I've seen his handiwork first-hand.

 

Again, no offence intended dude. I just had to get that off my chest (as alas, I was offended and could remain silent no more...sigh).

 

But you really should stop selling that gunk.

 

Or go into the wallpaper cleaning business.

 

Love your other wares though! I could use a few thousand Mylites...

 

I don't force the stuff on people. If they want to buy it great, if not great.

 

In my opinion I don't feel that this product hurts the paper. I think that it removes dirt and other things and from what I have seen it doesn't do any lifelong damage.

 

The reason it made the paper bubble is because the absorene was more humid and contained more water than the book. The same can be said about Wonderbread. If you smash up some bread and lay it on the cover it will wet the paper over time.

 

However, this product is not meant to be used and left on like that. It is supposed to be brushed or rubbed on the book in a rather quick and brisk motion.

 

I did it to know the answer to that possible question. If someone asks me, "What happens if I leave it on there." I can say, "Don't do it as it will crinkle your book"

 

It is imporant to note that this product will not work on all books. Some books it simply doesn't work well on, others it works greatly on. It appears to work the best on Dust and dirt where as some things it won't touch.

 

It is a long process to do a book. I would say that it takes 5-10 minutes and it takes about 1-2 hours to even get your system of using it down. Some people might like it, others may not.

 

I won't stop selling it just because some may think it hurts. Most I have talked to do not think it does. The funny thing is, since your posts I have sold about 2 cases of it, and before your posts I hadn't sold any for about 2 months. Thanks smile.gif

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