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Tape Removal on a More Fun Comics 65
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7 posts in this topic

I bought this More Fun Comics 65 last summer that has a front cover laminated with scotch tape.  Knowing how bad tape is for a book, I asked around to several restorers about removing the dreaded substance from my book.  None of them were willing to attempt such a task.  So at that point, I'd pretty much accepted the book would stay the in it's tape addled state.

About a month ago.  I spoke with @427Impaler about the possibilities with brittle pages, and I brought up the possibility of tape removal.  To my surprise.  He was willing to give it a try and gave me a thorough explanation of what's required and what to expect.  So, knowing it won't come back perfect, I sent my book to him with hope that it will come back with the tape eradicated.

Here are the before photos of the front and back cover.

More Fun Comics 65.jpg

20191111_172311.jpg.726b54c140c0bbe19364a0ff01d49bea.jpg

Edited by D84
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It has been several weeks in waiting with baited breath, but my book is back to me.  @427Impaler did let me know that besides tape on the cover, there was an underneath layer of rubber cement.  Apparently, one of the previous owners had used the book for tracing the image and had glued and taped the book to keep it from completely falling apart.  This made the job more challenging and did remove more of the color than originally hoped, but alas, the dreaded tape is gone.

Down the road, I will have a full restoration done on the book, but for now, it is safe from further damage from the evil tape.

More Fun 65 A (after tape removal).jpg

More Fun 65 B (after tape removal).jpg

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It was an interesting challenge.  This is one book that revealed its story as it progressed, as Jeremy said someone had been tracing the front cover images so much that they became mostly detached, and in an effort to save the book they put string in the indentations and then spread glue over the book, followed by two and some places three layers of tape.

Managed to get everything off, pieced it back together and stabilized the paper.  Not as cosmetically pleasing as I would like, but it won’t be deteriorating further and now a great reader or basis for resto.  
 

here is the tracing damage:

72C5D93E-B465-418B-8BB0-8618A7364EF3.thumb.jpeg.530f0ccc2c52a290f34371759ca3cc81.jpeg
 

and the tape and paper delamination

7D78452D-F846-4F23-89B8-F72706CFD961.thumb.jpeg.a4a9be54b5c753b66fb789500a00500e.jpeg

266F41F2-3180-4457-8A27-A4436EF40591.thumb.jpeg.77050005536ad5f25a9d9a7051dd4ad0.jpeg

579E8E0A-64BF-48C6-A8B6-C169DB58C3B1.jpeg

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