How to Clean and Store Rare & Collectable Comic Books?
One of the joys of life is sitting on a cosy sofa and reading a good comic book where the superhero defeats the villain and saves the city. Many comic lovers collect certain comic books, especially collector’s editions and rare comic books. While collecting rare comic books may be a good investment, the investment won’t last if you don’t take care of them properly. Like many other things you clean regularly, comic books require constant attention. But how can you clean them without damaging the comic book and maintaining their value?
In this article, we’ll discuss how to clean, maintain, handle and store rare and collectable comic books at home.
Tools & Supplies
Before starting, prepare everything you may need in advance. Here’s a list of what you need and what you should prepare before starting this task:
- Very soft microfibre cloth or makeup removal pads
- Soft brush, preferably a clean beauty brush
- A pair of clean cotton gloves (a.k.a. archival gloves)
- Soft rubber eraser, preferably in white (you can also use precision erasers)
- Cotton buds, preferably with a pointy tip
The choice of cleaning supplies is limited when it comes to cleaning rate comic books or anything sensitive to moisture. You may need isopropyl rubbing alcohol (70% or lower) to remove certain ink marks like pen and marker ink. Also, you need a smooth worktop to clean comic books. We recommend a soft or silicon desk pad.
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Assess The Issue & Type of Paper
Just like cleaning oil paintings on canvas, the first step to cleaning rate comic books is to assess the issue. You have to identify what kind of cleaning your comic book needs. Is it just a simple dusting, some spots or oil and other liquid stains? It’s crucial to know their issue to choose the correct approach.
Also, identifying the type of paper used to print the comic book is important. As you may know, old comic books are printed on newsprint papers but newer ones are printed on thicker glossy papers. While you should avoid contacting comic book papers with moisture of any kind, in some instances, cleaning comic book covers or new comics with a slightly dampened cleaning cloth is fine.
Keep in mind that in most cases, like cleaning old oil stains or other liquid stains, you should take your comic book to a restoration expert to properly restore it without damaging the comic book and reducing its value.
Cleaning Dust & Dirt
In most instances, cleaning dust and dirt off comic book pages is straightforward, regardless of the type of paper used to print the comic book. Just wear your archival gloves, pick up a soft brush and gently brush all dust and debris away from top to bottom. Also, don’t forget to brush dust and debris accumulated between two pages in the gutter.
To do deeper dusting or remove stubborn dust spots and debris, you can wipe the comic book page by page using makeup removal pads. Wipe down pages gently and replace the pad with a clean one every few pages.
You can also dust and clean the cover of new comic books with a soft microfibre cloth easily, especially those with slightly thinker than usual glossy paper. First, slightly dampen the cloth and wipe the cover, but avoid oversaturating both the cloth and the comic book cover.
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Spot Cleaning
In some cases, you may need to clean pencil spots or dirt marks from the comic book. The best approach is to use a soft white rubber to erase the spot. Keep the comic book firmly in place and gently erase the spot. Only use the easer on the spot to avoid wrinkling, scratching or tearing the paper.
To clean ink and marker stains on comic books, dampen a cotton bud with rubbing alcohol and gently dap the stained area (don’t rub). Start dabbing the spot from the edges inward to avoid spreading the stain. Be careful not to clean comic book printed ink as rubbing alcohol is a harsh cleaning chemical and can clean any ink regardless it’s printed ink or pen & marker ink stains.
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Correct Handling & Storage
To correctly handle rare and collectable comic books, you should wear special cotton gloves called archival gloves. Wear them when you want to clean, handle or read to prevent the oil and natural residues from your hands from transferring to the comic book pages.
To properly store rare comic books, especially if you’re keeping them as an investment and don’t want them to lose their value due to degradation, always store them:
- In acid-free or archival bags
- In a dry room or a room with humidity control HVAC system
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Conclusion
For some, comic books are the best way to spend some time reading. However, many people look at comic books, especially rare and collectable ones as an investment or hobby. But to keep the investment safe from losing its value, you should regularly clean and maintain comic books and handle and store them correctly. This article explores how to dust, clean, handle and store rare collectable comic books properly.
The information provided by this article can help comic book collectors to safely clean, handle and store their comic books and prevent degradation and value loss.
