CLEANING
A part of the duty of the mending department is to remove such dirt or stains as can readily be removed without injury to the books.
Pages
Various materials may be used for cleaning books which show soiled pages here and there, but which are in the main fairly clean. A red rubber or a sponge rubber is much better than an India rubber eraser. The latter should never be used unless the paper is excellent in quality. Bread crumbs rolled in a ball or powdered pumice stone put on with a dry cloth will often give good results. If the book is much soiled, or has mud stains, it may be advisable to use ivory soap and water with a few drops of ammonia, applied with a piece of cheesecloth well wrung out.
If the paper is of good quality it may be washed with Javelle water, a preparation used in French laundries. This may be made by the following recipe:
To one pound of chloride of lime add four and a half pints of water, and put in a jar with tight cover. In a separate vessel, dissolve 20 oz. of ordinary washing soda in four and a half pints of boiling water, and immediately pour it into the first mixture. When cold add enough water to make eleven pints in all. Strain through muslin, settle, and pour off the clear solution. After using it care must be taken to rinse the paper thoroughly with water, as it tends to rot paper.
In the cleaning of pages care should be taken not to erase any marks made by the cataloging or accession departments. Rubbing must be done slowly and the pages held flat to prevent tearing. Rub from the inside outward. All traces of pumice stone, rubber, etc., should be carefully removed. If water and soap have been used, it may be necessary to put a pressing tin under the leaf, placing blotting paper on each side.
Fox marks may be removed by immersing the leaves in a weak solution of chlorine water and then transferring to a hot bath of very weak hydrochloric acid.
To remove creases from leaves accidentally folded, place the leaves between moistened blotters enclosed between dry blotters and press. This can be repeated until the crease is entirely removed. Sometimes creases may be ironed out with a hot iron.
Ink stains can be removed by any one of the standard eradicators (oxalic acid followed by chloride of lime). Stains from pad ink used for dating stamps can be removed with benzine.