Water stains.—If the stains be from water, the application of boiling water and alum will take them out. This stain is the one most usually found in books, it may be distinguished from other stains by leaving a mark having a sharp edge.
To take such a stain away, pull the book to pieces, strew on the bottom of the pan a handful of powdered alum, on this pour a quantity of boiling water. Immerse each section leaf by leaf in the liquid, and allow to remain for some hours. It may be found rather difficult to get the sheets to go under the water; and as one cannot press them under by hand, on account of the heat, make a substitute by wrapping strips of linen on the end of a piece of wood; keep this handy, it will be found very useful; being round at the end, and soft, it does not tear or go through the paper, as will anything sharp.
The alum water will, after a time, become very discoloured; this is only the stain and other dirt extracted from the paper; throw this away by tipping the dish, or by the use of the syphon; add fresh water, either warm or cold, but preferably warm, to dissolve any excess of alum that may have soaked into the paper, and to further clear it. After a time the whole book may be taken out, placed between pressing boards, and excess of water pressed away by the laying |162| press. The sections are then carefully opened, and hung upon lines or cords stretched across the workshop to dry. When dry, should the paper require it, pass the whole book, section by section, or leaf by leaf, through a size, press, and again hang up to dry. When dry, it will be ready for re-binding. It may happen that only a single leaf is stained; do not cut this out as is usually done, but wet a piece of fine string, which lay on the leaf as far in the back as possible; close the book and allow to remain a few minutes; the leaf may then be readily drawn out, the moisture of the string having made the paper soft where it was placed. It may then be cleaned, and when dry and pressed, replaced.
Damp stains may be treated as for water stains, but, as a rule, a book damaged by damp has little or no chance of being made good again. A book so damaged can only be strengthened by re-sizing or some artificial means. To re-size leaves that cannot be plunged into the solution, the sizing may be done with a soft brush. Place the leaf on a piece of glass or marble, and use the brush to the leaf as one would do in pasting; when sized, lift the leaf up very gently and lay it out on paper to dry; when dry, the reverse side is treated in like manner; or a thin paper of a transparent character may be pasted over the pages, either on one or both sides.
Mud.—Luckily a book stained with mud is not of frequent occurrence. Mud seems to be a combination of all that is objectionable, generally it is a mixture of iron and grease. Wash the leaf well in cold water, then in a weak solution of muriatic acid, after which, plunge in a weak solution of chloride of lime. Rinse well, dry, and size. Sometimes it will be necessary to wash the leaf with soap water. Make a soap solution, and gently go over the whole sheet with a soft brush, a shaving brush for instance; this may be done by laying the leaf on a slab of glass: use great care with |163| the brush, or the surface of the paper will be abraised; after which, rinse well with water.
Very often such stains, if fresh, will disappear if a fine jet of water be allowed to play on the parts dirtied, the water being ejected through a fine rose jet.
Fox-marks.—Books so stained may generally be cleaned by immersing the leaves into a weak solution of hydrochloric acid; one must not make the bath too strong, 1 ⁄ 2 ounce of the acid to 1 pint of water, using the bath hot, will be found about right. Should the marks not give to this treatment, plunge the book, sheet by sheet, into a weak bath of chlorine water. The book may be left in for some hours, taken out and replaced in the hydrochloric bath; after a half hour it may be rinsed with cold water, hung up to dry, and sized.
Finger-marks, commonly called “thumb-marks.”—These are the most difficult to erase, the dirt being generally of a greasy nature, and forced into the fibres of the paper. Make a jelly of white or curd soap, apply to the stain, and leave it on for some time, then wash away gently by means of a soft brush while the leaf is in cold water; this will, as a rule, take all, or nearly all, away. A slight rinsing in very weak acid water, again with cold water, and when dry size.
Blood stains.—The leaves stained must be plunged into cold water; when thoroughly soaked, the stains may be washed with a soft brush charged with soap, then well rinsed with water again. Dry.
If hot water be used, the heat renders the albumen of the blood insoluble, and the stain will be difficult to erase.