Book Cleaning Tips

Cleaning Book Covers

Always try any product on an unobtrusive part of the book first. It is often a good idea to practice on an unimportant volume. Truly valuable books should always be entrusted to a professional restorer but the home restorer can get excellent results with our products.

Easi-Clean and Clean Cover Gel are two similar products that are effective in cleaning and restoring cloth covers. Both are also used on cleaning glazed and laminated surfaces of books and jackets. You simply apply with a soft cloth, rubbing in the direction of the weave, leave to dry for a minute and then buff with a clean cloth.

Leather Binding Polish is used on antiquarian type books in much the same way as Easi-Clean. For extra protection Leather Preservative/Restorer should be used. This product, when applied, creates an invisible scuff resistant finish. If you have leather bound books that are affected by powdery deterioration, Cellugel should be used. It stops the flaking and stabilises the leather binding.

Cleaning Paper Surfaces

All our paper cleaning products are designed to be effective without damaging paper surfaces.

There are a number of quite inexpensive products that are highly effective in cleaning paper. Art Gum Eraser and Absorene Paper & Book Clenaer have a similar action and both gently remove surface grime without damaging paper surfaces. Document Cleaning Pad produces granules that absorbe dust and grime and it can be used many times over.

For more ingrained dirt the Groom/Stick cleaner is highly recommended. It has a molecular action which literally draws dirt and grime out of paper and holds it within the cleaner. The Groom/Stick is reusable over again and can provide several years of service.

Finally we have a cure for all those smoky and musty books. Book Deodoriser is supplied in granular form. You simply place the book inside an airtight container with the granules and afer 1-2 weeks they will have absorbed all the odour. The granules are reusable.