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Removing Glue
Name: Steve I.
Status: other
Age: 40s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 12/16/2004
Question:
Recently I came across an old scrapbook from a friend of
mine that had baseball cards glued onto the pages. The "paper" for the
pages seems to be somewhat like "construction paper" in consistency or
appearance, being somewhere between yellow and tan in color. Card age
varies from 1965-71, most likely the year they were glued onto the pages.
In removing some cards from pages, the paper of the scrapbook page
adhered to the card. Glue used appears to have been "white glue" in
nature. So, how do I remove the old "scrapbook page paper" from the
baseball card, without removing any of the back of the sports card
itself?
Replies:
Glue that matches the glued objects sometimes has the inherent problem
that anything which attacks the glue attacks the objects themselves.
White glue on paper has some of this problem.
Likewise, most kinds of paper share the same chemical vulnerabilities as
each other.
What weakens one, weakens the other.
So you will not be using any methods that immerse the whole thing into any
kind of liquid chemical bath.
Alternate Paths:
Get the glue the glue to a pliable, tough state, abrade through the
paper from the back, then think about the glue itself later.
Get the glue to a dry, very flaky state, which easily falls off the paper.
Get the glue so soft or liquid you can dab or scrape it off. (not very
likely you can make this happen).
Tools:
cutting: tiny cosmetic scissors and/or sharp-pointed "X-acto" knife,
for trimming paper behind card where it is not actually glued.
abrasion: "laser" serrated steak knife, sharp-pointed "X-acto" knife,
rotary-tool with small rounded fine-grit grinding tip,
firm flat gloss-safe work-surface and padded plate with hole for
holding it down firmly.
heating: electric oven for dry heat, solvent vapor warming box, safely
covered brick, warming tray
softening/drying solvents: elevated temperature itself, water,
isopropyl alcohol, limonene products
work surface: white printer paper, thin untextured paper towel with no
obvious plastic threads in it,
steel cookie sheet, smooth DuPont's Teflon (TM) plate or sheet. (large
DuPont's Teflon (TM)-aluminum pan?)
Truisms:
paper is weaker while wet or damp (both page and card)
glue is softer while infused with a solvent, and often drier and
flakier after the solvent is evaporated away
Paper does not melt; it can take heat. Glue and plastics soften or
melt at water-boiling temp. or a bit above. (200-300F)
Glossy paper cannot be 100% paper, it must also contain other things.
Localized methods instead might approach adequacy.
If the glue is still soft it will buffer the card from mechanical work
done on the back of the page,
such as abrading the paper away from the glue-spots with a very fine
sandpaper wheel or a rounded sharp blade.
After that you can see the glue and try things on it directly.
You will need to trim the paper away where it is not glued, to be able to
find the boundaries of the glue-spots.
If the glue is not soft and not very flaky it might start tearing off bits
of the back surface of the card, starting at its own cracks.
If so soften the glue with high humidity and temperature or with steam.
Isopropyl alcohol is a possible thing to soften white glue too.
Keeping the card and paper beside a small cup of rubbing alcohol (70%
isopropanol/30% water)
in a sealed jar overnight is something I would try on it.
I think white glues vary a little bit.
Some will be pliable and tough for a long time, others get brittle and
flake off voluntarily with time.
You need to see state which your glue is closer to, and choose a path to
pursue:
getting it soft and tough to abrade the back,
or very flaky so it can be worked off without tearing off the back
surface of the card.
Pick some of the less-valuable ones and experiment first. There's no
substitute for that.
If you do not think a crazy smell is too damaging,
limonene (a common light solvent for glue-removing, with a lemony smell)
is worth trying.
There are various glue-and-gum remover products in hardware stores which
are mostly this solvent.
It does rather little to paper or gloss-print surface, and it may either
soften the glue or dry and embrittle the glue after it evaporates.
Apply a less-than-thoroughly wetting amount to the back of the glue only,
by vapor infusion or by rubbing on small amounts with a solvent-dampened
cloth, or dabbing on half a drop from a cotton swab.
Warming in an electric oven to 150-200 degrees F (not hotter than boiling
water) might drive off almost all smell afterwards.
Opening the door occasionally to let out some of the fumes might help it
work better.
Similarly, heating is in itself like one of the solvents:
The glue itself might be softer while it is held warmer than room
temperature, perhaps by
working on a paper-towel-covered hot brick, warmed in an oven to not more
than 250F.
You do not want to melt any component of the gloss that is plastic, that
might make it adhere to the work surface.
Also after the glue is warmed in an electric oven (drier air than a gas
oven) for several hours,
it may be more degraded and flaky once it cools down.
Details. How much patience do you feel like expending?
Jim Swenson
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