Tech Hut

old books?

Does anyone in the yahoo community know a good way of reconditioning old books that have been in a damp atmosphere?

Torn pages and dustwrappers
Old dustwrappers often have tears and rips and these can be neatly repaired using clear Scotch tape or ‘filmoplast’. You must never use sellotape as this will crack and discolour in time. Filmoplast is an archival quality, acid-free document repair tape and once applied, is almost invisible. Slightly more expensive, but well worth the money. This can also be used on ripped or torn pages. Always repair dustwrappers on the inside for a better finish.

Foxing
This is the term given to rust-coloured spots that are common on pages of old books, due to the impurities of the paper produced at that time and exposure to damp or mouldy conditions. Foxing is a type of fungus and will spread unless treated. There is a substance called Chloramine-T which is applied with an applicator to the affected area. This neutralises the fungus and continued applications help whiten the rust spots.

Cracked Hinges & Split Spines
These can be repaired with a special book adhesive that is flexible when dry and dries clear for a professional finish.

Old Sellotape
Old sellotape marks can be removed with a special adhesive solvent that removes tape from paper surfaces without fuss. It can also help to remove staining from sellotape. Never try to remove sellotape without the use of a proper chemical remover.

Writing & Scribbling Marks
Pencil can easily be removed by a good quality rubber, however if the pencil was used with a lot of pressure, you will still have some indentations left on the paper. Take care to rub out in one direction and hold the page tightly between two fingers to avoid the page creasing. Pencil is a lot harder to remove if it is over a colour illustration, as the illustration will be worn away slightly with your rubber.
Biro/Ink/Felt tip & Wax Crayon are almost impossible to remove and it is perhaps better not to attempt it. Some biro rubbers may work slightly but there is always an impression left behind on the page. Don’t be tempted to tear out whole pages of books as some people do – this will only devalue the book completely.

Tobacco/Mouldy Odours
To remove unsavoury smells of any kind, simply place your book in a cardboard box, filled with scrunched-up newspaper and leave for several days. This usually takes the smell away completely.

Hope that covers some of your problems

OLD Book~American Southern Folklore~Negro~Brer Rabbit $34.99

5 Old Books,1879 McGuffey's,Slaughter,Audels,Palmer B7 $9.99

Lincoln Library of Essential Information 1941 Old book $1.99

Old-Fashioned Farm Life Coloring Book by A. G. Smith $3.95

6 Books on Art some old and rare - painting photographs $24.95

Precious Moments Kids Board Books Old & New Testament $9.95

Vintage CREI Capitol Radio Engineering Course, Old Book $5.99

Noodle by Munro Leaf 1937 Old childrens book daschund $39.95

OLD COOK BOOK FROM ATTIC BOX*THE DAILY NEWS COOKBOOK*** $4.00

32 Postcards OLD LONDON Book Dover publication 1977 $4.99

Old Swiss Family Robinson Book - NR! $3.99

Old Time Music Party Play Along Fiddle Banjo Book & CD $19.95

THE JUNGLE BOOK &OLD YELLER-.2 VHS LOT $0.99

Old Guard: A Bolos Anthology: Book 5 by Keith Laumer $4.95

Old Time Country Guitar Backup Basics Lessons Book NEW $15.95

Beginning Old Time Fiddle Lessons Learn to Play Book CD $21.95

Banjo Camp - Bluegrass Old-Time Music Guide Book CD NEW $21.95

Child's Garden of Verses Robert Stevenson 1932 Old Book $2.99

STEVEN FOSTER BOOK 1887 OLD PHOTOS OLD KENTUCKY HOME $15.35

The Women - Time Life Books - The Old West Series $0.99

OLD AUSTRALIAN ADVERTISING TINS REFERENCE BOOK + PRICE $10.07

* LOT OF 7 BOOKS Football * Vietnam * Some Old... $0.99

* LOT OF 5 OLD RELIGIOUS BOOKS / BOOKLETS RELIGION $0.99

8 WORLD WAR 2 / WW11 BOOKS, OLD LIBRARY BOOKS $8.50

The Cowboys - Time Life Books - The Old West Series $0.99

Old lot of 3 Doll News and Doll Reader Book 1982 &1983 $0.99

7 WORLD WAR 2 / WW11 BOOKS, OLD LIBRARY BOOKS $8.50

SET BOOKS- THE OLD WEST by TIME LIFE -COWBOYS + INDIANS $49.99

SET OLD BOOKS- WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS- ILLUST $32.00

The Loggers - Time Life Books - The Old West Series $0.99

*OLD 1ST 1925 SUNLIGHT IN GRANADA - MCFEE TRAVEL BOOK* $9.09

*1892 OLD STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A PHAETON BOOK - BLACK* $9.09

*RARE OLD 1876 GETTING ON IN THE WORLD - MATHEWS BOOK* $9.09

**OLD 1891 TRIALS OF A COUNTRY PARSON - JESSOPP BOOK** $12.13

*OLD 1888 SNOW-SHOES AND CANOES - KINGSTON BOOK* $7.57

*OLD 1910 1ST RED CAP TALES - DURWOOD ILLUST BOOK* $7.57

**OLD 1899 THE DOLLY DIALOGUES - HOPE BOOK** $7.57

**OLD 1881 1ST MAID MARJORY - ILLUSTRATED MILES BOOK** $10.61

*OLD 1897 EAGLE AND DOVE PRUSSIAN WAR - CLEMENTS BOOK* $7.57

*OLD 1928 1ST CHIMNEYS OF TATTLETON - PILKINGTON BOOK* $9.09

**OLD RARE THE DEERSLAYER - FENIMORE COOPER BOOK** $10.61

The Indians - Time Life Books - The Old West Series $0.99

Purse Book Victorian Patterns Bag Old Pattern Bags 1900 $14.99

Old Farm Tractors book, perfect condition $9.28

The End & the Myth Time Life Books The Old West Series $3.26

RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL OLD DC COMIC BOOK 1974 ISSUE #5 $4.99

95 yr. old book AN INTERPRETATION OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE $5.98

AIRS OF OLD ERIN Thomas Moore Music Song Book, VINTAGE $4.99

The Old Contemptibles, Martha Grimes, Good Book $1.00

50 Old Bronze Age Comic Books Comics $24.99

Book Of Demonology and Witchcraft (Old Sorcery& Magic) $0.99

Old but nice Fish and Seafood cook book $10.95

Original Book of Dead (Old Egyptian Dark Magick Book) $0.99

NEW Clarified Old Testament: Books of Ecclesiastes, ... $19.50

The Old West by editorsTime-Life Books"The Spanish West $9.98

The Old West by Forbis & Time-Life Books"The Cowboys" $9.98

DAWN OF A NEW ERA 1200-1400 old art and history book $4.95

TEDDY BEARS pictures history fun facts old ads lg book $4.95

The Old West by Capps&Time-Life Books"The Great Chiefs" $9.98

Selling Old Books.com "Used Books Web" Domain Name NR! $21.50

The Old West by Horn & Time-Life Books,"The Pioneers" $9.98

Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books by Hasse $14.50

Disney Auctions Pin / Old Hag Spell Book DA LE 250 $23.06

2330 Vintage Children's book THE OLD WEST PEOPLE PLACES $0.49

** Old comic book lot Bronze Age HORROR comic books ** $14.60

1924 Vintage Autograph Book w Gold hard to find! old $9.99

EARLY OLD COVERED BOOK,&OLD CARVED CHILDS SHOE MOLD $45.00

1892 OREGON CARPENTERS UNION 'DANGER SIGNALS' Book OLD $9.99

The Old Devils, Kingsley Amis, Good Book $4.92

OLD SPIDERMAN COMICS---10 BOOKS $3.25

VERY OLD BOOK,1907,DAWN,BY KATHARINE BROWN $5.50

My Bridal Book, very old $14.99

OLD RULE BOOK GOLF PENALTIES ETIQUETTE HARRY ROUNTREE $9.95

Old Gold Filled Victorian Style Book Photo Locket $1.30

OLD KIDS BOOKS THE WISHING HORSE OF OZ & SPEEDY IN OZ $56.00

Two helpful old golf records reference books $15.00

16 old books Nikola TESLA - ELECTRICITY DYNAMOS patents $3.50

11 old books BREWING BEER history CIDER SAKE home brew! $2.99

Linguaphone Hebrew Language Course w/ Case & books-OLD $34.99

HOUSEKEEPING IN OLD VIRGINIA, 1965 REPRINT OF 1879 BOOK $2.99

Old Charlton 1971 Bud Blake "Tiger" Comic Book #6 $5.00

20 old Children's Books Chicken Little 1950-78 Lassie $26.24

Old Monarch Electric Range Instruction & Recipe Book $5.00

3 old Science Books $75.00

1850 Lectures on Botany Mrs Phelps Old Book Science $6.00

3 old Model Airplane Plan Books Gas, Rubber,& Gliders $30.29

3 old Wylam Scale Model Airplane 3-View drawing books $9.90

1895 Odd Fellowship Oddfellows Rare Old Book Theo Ross $24.95

1956 book Don't Grow Old-Grow Up by Dorothy Carnegie $4.99

1947 Hoyt Sherman Drawing By Seeing Old Art Book NICE $6.50

Rare "The Old Man In The Sea" Hemingway Book Box $5.00

1965 Egypt Egyptian Art Old Book French NICE Fouchet $6.00

1966 George Rickey Old Art Book Kinetic Sculpture NICE $10.50

1969 Kenzo Tange Architect Architecture Old Rare Book $6.00

1969 Tamarind Homage to Lithography Old Art Book NICE $5.00

1969 What is Modern Scculpture Old Art Book NICE $5.00

1983 Potter Knock on Wood Superstitions Old Book Weird $6.00

Ranger Sea Dog of the Royal Mounted Old Childrens Book $5.00

Voices of D-Day WWII D Day Allied Invasion WAR Old Book $5.00

5 OLD BOOKS $9.99

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Leather Photo Album - Holds 200 4x6 Pictures $44.95 Save your memories on archival, photo-safe pages that are acid-free, lignin free and PVC free. Preserve your memories for generations and do so with style. With the unique Memo Space next to each photo you can record the the details of each picture. Pages at the back of the album allow you to store up to 4 picture CDs or DVDs as well as 4 index prints. A small pocket on the inside back cover allow...

Deluxe Leather Photo Album - Stores 300 Pictures $42.95 Go for the classy look. Your memories are precious and how you store them should be no less. The classy, bonded-leather, photo album by Old Town holds up to 300 photos with dimensions 4 x 6 inches (10.2 cm x 15.2 cm). The album can also accommodate photos with dimensions 4 x 12 inches. A great addition to your shelf/library you'll enjoy viewing your pictures with the album. A heavy-duty, capped bi...

Kidsongs - A Day at Old MacDonald's Farm $5.37 The Kidsongs Kids go on a school field trip to a farm and sing 10 favorite songs.No Track Information AvailableMedia Type: DVDArtist: KIDSONGSTitle: DAY AT OLD MACDONALD'S FARMStreet Release Date: 05/07/2002...

Licensed to Ill $5.42 The joke of Licensed to Ill's cover--that the Beasties could crash their jet into the side of a mountain and keep on tickin'--serves as a good metaphor for a career that even some of their 1986 admirers thought might be over after the one-time-only shock of this full-length debut. That thousands of funk-junkie wannabes have since failed at re-creating its groove, breaking-the-law vibe, and ear-spl...

Unearthed (5CD) $59.96 Over the course of five mesmerizing CDs, Unearthed shows us just how Johnny Cash's now-legendary handful of recordings for American Records came to be. Four discs feature previously unreleased tracks from the famed Rick Rubin-produced sessions. Through their inconsistencies and quirks (and, more often than not, brilliance), they shed light on how Cash's final records were shaped, edited, and produ...

Old Man & The Sea [VHS] $3.99 The classic Ernest Hemingway novel about man battling nature and the demons within himself is adapted admirably in this 1958 film starring the legendary Spencer Tracy. Playing the fisherman who goes on an intense and futile quest as he contemplates his own nature, Tracy turns in a spellbinding performance of understated power. He plays an itinerant Cuban fisherman whose luck at catching his prey h...

Andersonville [VHS] $4.22 They left the nightmare...and entered Hell. Captured Union soilders cope with life inside the Civil War's most notorious prisoner-of-war camp. A powerful, compeling tale of war and will, with Emmy Award-winning direction by John Frankenheimer and a cast including Frederic Forrest (Apocalypse Now) and William H. Macy (ER, Fargo) Year: 1996 Director: John Frankenheimer Starring: Jarrod Emick, Fre...

Without Limits [VHS] $2.99 This subtle and deeply moving film about the life of athlete Steve Prefontaine (Billy Crudup) is a rarity: a movie about the beauty of youth, as opposed to a patronizing, junk-culture youth film. Written by legendary Hollywood screenwriter Robert Towne (along with Kenny Moore) and directed by Towne with his usual masculine insight, bold creativity, and superior taste, Without Limits tells the tale...

Londons Times Famous People Places Books Cartoons - Old McDonald and the Farm - Light Switch Covers - single toggle switch $11.75 Old McDonald and the Farm Light Switch Cover is new and handcrafted utilizing unique process resulting in a stunning high gloss ceramic-like finish. SET OF MATCHING SCREWS IS INCLUDED giving it a perfect finishing touch. Made of durable metal material....