/r/comicbookpressing
The art and science of cleaning, pressing, and restoring comic books to preserve them for the future.
Since the comic book collecting community is vast and varied with book spanning decades and soon centuries when posting questions or tips please tag with a (Silver age) or (Bronze age) or even year specific date of the book you are inquiring about.
The goal of this sub is to make comic preservation and conservation information as easy to access as restoring a 1969 Camaro.
Lets take the mystery out of comic book cleaning and pressing and open it up for the whole hobby.
/r/comicbookpressing
3,025 Subscribers
Steel plates rusting?
Hey all, so my steel plates I use for pressing started to turn brown and get “dusty”. Are they rusting? Is this normal? What is the proper care for these? They’re about 4 yrs old, they stay in my clamshell press in opened position when not used/being pressed. I usually just clean them with dawn detergent, hot water and steel wool then wipe it down with paper towels but I noticed I’m cleaning them more often cuz I don’t want that dusty residue to get on my books.
00:00 UTC
Novice here thinking of buying a press. Any advice on where to start?
Not much else to add. Would start with my own collection. Golden Age books to present.
Thanks
14:13 UTC
Mending detached pages
Has anyone ever used Transparent Mending Tissue to mend a detached centerfold page? I read somewhere that a specific archival tape was considered "non-permanent" and outside of "restorative". Does anyone have any knowledge of this and which would be recommended?
21:28 UTC
How do you handle water damage?
I have a few old books that have some waves on them, and I'm just wondering how people in the community try to get them out.
00:41 UTC
Could these defects be pressed out?
21:09 UTC
My Top 5 Tools for Comic Cleaning and Pressing (That I Can’t Live Without)
16:01 UTC
BLED quick question..
Just looking into experimenting with this method, do I NEED to use peroxide/ chemical solutions on a cover with the BLED box treatment or can I just start with the blue light portion first with no distilled chemicals?
Currently I dry clean and heat press and would like to build a light box to help whiten but wasnt sure if I'd get zero results If I only use the blue light with no chemicals...would it just mean I'm not maximising the full potential of what it can do or is there damage risks if its the blue light by itself?
23:56 UTC
ASM 300 - Grade Estimate?
ASM 300 fresh off the press and light dry cleaning. 15 minutes @ 155F, flipped after 5 hours for another 15mins @ 155F and left to cold press in between and afterwards for ~36 hours.
Looking to get a grade estimate or possibly something I can go back and improve, possibly another press? The staples inside look good so possibly another press could help.
4K60 Closeups provided in Imgur link.
04:23 UTC
Juxtapose Practice Books
I've been consistently going into Half Price Books looking for books to practice on. I came across these two Vigilante #1s. I don't know much about the book, except it is a legit cover.
The cool thing about this find, I thought, was that I found a VF and a NM of the same book in the same trip.
The fact that I can see side by side what the book should look like opens up the flexibility of what I wanna try with the VF and see if it will translate to the NM.
Plan to wet clean (immacuclean) the VF and see what I can do to make it better, then go after the NM.
22:43 UTC
DIY Backer Board Question For Pressing
When I press my books, I use magazine sized backer boards. However, I was recently considering using treasury sized backer boards because I like the extra leeway they provide because when I clamp down my press, it sometimes causes my books to shift. So, I wanted to ask: What are backer boards made of, and is there any way I can buy materials to make my own specifically for pressing books? Thanks!
09:53 UTC
ASM 300 - What can I do/What should I avoid doing
Got an ASM 300 (Newsstand) in and after initial inspection and it definitely looked better in pictures did not point out the spine near the staples.
Looking for a bit of guidance on what I need to be careful on, what I can do concerning pressing and cleaning etc.
Thank you, for now I’m just gonna look at it because I’m happy to have it in general.
23:44 UTC
New collector. Need tips for cleaning a stain
Looks like some kind of liquid stain. Was wondering if there’s any easy way to clean it. Not looking to spend much money since the book is only 6 bucks
06:22 UTC
Which press should I get?
Lots of conflicting reviews and the VEVOR one is like duplicated everywhere, the top one looks higher quality but that's mostly of the control panel look i guess. Anyone have either one and can vouch for them or should I just take the cheaper one that shows up later or to get started sooner, get the top one.
00:15 UTC
04:03 UTC
Removing or Killing mold growth in slab?
For slight mold growth on interior page of book
Is there a way to kill or this mold inside the slab?
CGC mentions water damage so I’m certain these are mold spots. (CGC graded cover less book)
I was thinking perhaps a UV flashlight or another way?
Do the UV flashlights sold on Amazon etc have enough “power” to actually kill or stunt mold growth— “germicide “?
Or any other recommendations besides cracking it out and cleaning w chemicals?
If cracking is necessary then what recommendations for removing light mold growth?
14:23 UTC