Comic Book Tips – Dry Cleaning Your Comic Books

Comic Book Dry Cleaning is a Must!

When comic book collectors approach me regarding the services I offer, they tend to focus primarily on my pressing service.  What I want to explore in this post is the dry cleaning service the Comic Doctor offers as well.  For comics that have not been stored properly over the years, a dry clean will work wonders.  Dry cleaning will remove dirt, grime and minor staining from comic books including led and wax pencil marks.  Dry cleaning will not remove foxing (age-related staining/ spotting), pen/ink stains or water stains.

Books that have been stored in damp areas often have a distinct smell and are grimy/ rough  to the touch.  This condition can be lessened greatly through dry cleaning.  If a book has mold and mildew staining (often green and/ or black), this sort of defect can only be corrected through restoration.

Although many collectors change their bags and boards regularly, those that do not or have not may notice that dark staining has developed on the white areas of the cover – this condition is reversible.  Remember that the Comic Doctor includes a quick dry clean on all books that are received (if needed) for a press at no additional charge.  If a comic book is extremely dirty and requires extensive work, however, additional fees may be incurred.  See my pricing chart for more details.

While restorers will often use chemical washes to lighten pages and remove stains, the methods I employ are not invasive and  are not detectable by third-party grading companies like CGC.   In fact, CGC’s their own affiliate, CCS, likely uses similar methods when cleaning the books they service.  Aside from the tools involved,  the real trick to dry cleaning is patience.  Trying to get the job done quickly can result in areas being neglected, and worse, comic book damage.   In fact, the dry cleaning process is quite harmless, it is the actual handling of the book where potential damage can occur.  To ensure a comic book is not inadvertently damaged during the cleaning, maintaining an organized work space, and having tools within arms reach, is all important.

For more information about comic book dry cleaning, please look around this website or feel free to drop me an e-mail or give me a call.  Thank you!