How I Clean & Press Comic Books at Home
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- čas přidán 25. 04. 2023
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Nice vid, and process looks much cheaper than I thought it might be.
Yeah getting the equipment isn’t too expensive at all. It’s all about getting the process down without hurting the books! It’s a lot fun and rewarding once you do though.
Love it, Thank you for taking the time to create this video!
Thanks so much for watching!!
Thanks man! Lots of help!
I appreciate that!
Super useful tips, I can't wait to try them out. Thank you!✌️
Thanks!!! Best of luck!!
Keeping it simple. Much appreciated!
Wow! Looks awesome!
Thank you!
Hell yeah dude! Great technique!!
Thank you! ☺️
The WBN #1 would go from 4.0 to 4.5. Too many color break creases to go beyond a 4.5. MP #28 is a solid 5.5 to 6.0.
Thanks! I appreciate your input.
Great video. Im looking at getting a press and doing a lot of my lower end books and minor keys I've acquired through collections I bought that have stacking curls, finger bends, etc. Your information really helps! Can you press a book multiple times to improve the pressing procedure?
That’s awesome! It’s very convenient to be able to press your own books. I’m always fixing up books that I get for my collection. Yes you can press multiple times to get the desired effect.
That Evol Kinievel add to me back.
great video ! what would you say the grade change was from before and after pressing ?
These books weren’t the best example of a drastic change. But the clean and press definitely helped. Honestly, I’m not the best a grading but I’d say they bumped up a grade or so after the clean and press.
Thank you for taking the time to share this GREAT process with us all. My question is- how much do you think you improved the overall grade of each book?
If 1 of them was a 4.5 did it go to a 5.5? for example? I understand grading is subjective at best. I am sure it depends a lot on the issues with each book prior to pressing.
I clean and press my comics to ensure I get the highest grade possible. This particular example was probably only a .5 grade bump. Possibly a full grade bump. Next time I make a video like this I will try to use comics that show a drastic change. These two examples I mainly just wanted to get cleaned up as good as possible. But yes, grading is absolutely subjective! Thanks so much for watching!
Marvel bronze age horror comics are awesome.
They’re my favorite!
Nice vid. One question- when steaming, would you flip the book over to introduce a little moisture to the back cover as well?
I usually don’t steam the back cover. I just let the moisture penetrate from the top and sides because the heat comes from the top of the press and sometimes if there’s too much moisture it leaves waves in the pages.
But- if the back cover needs a press, I will flip the book, steam the back cover, and press again.
@@patriotcomics oh I see! I’ve never used one, I didn’t know the heat was only from the top. In my mind I thought it was like a sandwich press 😂 and heat from both sides.
Great video ! What model of Bettersub did you buy ? thanks !
I’m not sure the model number but it’s the 15”x15” clamshell press.
Thanks for tutorial. I didnt notice any improvement after the press though.
Thanks! I guess the camera didn’t do it justice. In person they looked a lot nicer. At least I think so..
Good 👌.
Thanks!
Nice video, i dont see much of a difference but there is some improvements. Good advice to practice on less expensive books to practice
Thanks
Great video. Are prospective buyers usually fine with restoration work or is there a segment of the population that likes to know no restoration efforts have been attempted?
I’m sure there’s purists out there that don’t want anything done to their comics and like to keep them in the exact condition they found them in. But I feel like most collectors, including myself, don’t think of cleaning and pressing as “restoration”. The comic grading services don’t count that as restoration either. But honestly I’ve never met someone who didn’t want their comic cleaned and pressed before submitting for grading.
Thanks for watching!! 😃
Great video my man! And great channel. I recently started pressing my own books to some success ! But often times the book will come out wavy. Any advice or experience on the books coming out Wavy? Thanks !
Thanks so much! What are you putting between the comic and the top/bottom of the press? Also are you using a lot of moisture before pressing?
@@patriotcomics thanks for writing back my man. so aluminum plates top and bottom + magazine board ,, 65lb card stock behind front and back cover and a magazine board in the centerfold. I may be getting moisture crazy and using too much, but I also read that I could be applying too much pressure
@@GladwellInvestments Yeah it’s hard to say, but too much moisture could cause the waves or possibly the pressure. I would just experiment a little more and see what works. That’s what I do. I’m still learning as well !
@@GladwellInvestmentsNever pressed my comics, but definitely try varying the water/steam/moisture for optimal result.
What size of metal sheet is that and where did you find it? I'm having issues finding one.
It’s a 12” x 18” stainless steel sheet. I got it from Home Depot. My press is 15x15” but that’s the only size I could find. And I didn’t want to cut down a larger sheet. It cost around $15.
Do you recommend using a magic eraser on your comics because I saw a video of minthunter doing it.
Honestly I’ve never tried one. It may help with staining on white surfaces. I’ll have to check out his video and see how he used it. Thanks!
I had another question about pressing do you flip the comic when you press it
@@chriscomicsanime4489 if the back cover looks bad, I’ll press the back cover first and then flip the comic and then press the front.
I meant to mention that in my video but I forgot. These books had pretty decent looking back covers so I only pressed the front.
@@chriscomicsanime4489 having the aluminum plates eliminate the need for flipping the book
You do know that the knob on top of the handle adjusts the pressure of the press right? You don’t need to have both Mats and if it’s hard to pull the handle down then you are pressing the book to hard
Hey man - you're not having issues pressing two at the same time with variations in thickness of each book? When do you NOT press two at the same time and vice versa?
I don’t typically have any problems pressing two comics at once, as long as they’re similar in size and paper type. Modern with modern, bronze with bronze, silver with Silver, etc..
I would not press a giant size annual with a normal thinner comic.
@@patriotcomics Great. Also - are you using distilled water in the steamer?
A helpful video for sure. Is there a setting on the machine for the thickness of the books?
There is a manual pressure adjustment where you can set the amount of pressure but it’s just a dial that you tighten or loosen. It’s takes a little trial and error to set it accordingly.
@@patriotcomics good to know. thank you so much. Have you tried any other pressing machines?
@@dmt02459 no not yet. I might end up buying another machine so I can have two pressing at once.
There's quite a few moving parts. The last question I would ask for now is is there any concern about that steel plate rusting with the humidifying going on?
@@dmt02459 the plate is stainless steel. So no rust 😁
🤘
Thanks for watching!
I have a foil comic book, and it has fingerprints on it. Do you have any suggestions on removing them off?
Those are tricky. I would definitely look to see if there’s any videos on CZcams about that or info online. A cloth that you clean eye glasses with and a little bit of rubbing alcohol may work. But I’d be cautious. If it’s an expensive comic, I would definitely test it out on cheap/dollar comic first.
@patriotcomics Thank you. I really appreciate the response and appreciate you making vids like this bc it really helps me to take care of my comics more, and since I'm new at collecting comics, this helps a lot.
@@seanscott1886 thanks so much! 🙏😃
Distilled or tap water in steamer?
Distilled is probably better but I use tap usually. I haven’t had any issues.
any idea if pressing works for paperback books?
Honestly I’m sure. I think they may be too thick.
What is the press you're using ?
The brand is called Bettersub. I bought it on Amazon.
@@patriotcomics Thank you.
CAN YOU GIVE US THE LINK TO BUY THE PRESS @@patriotcomics
When you steam you don't have to steam both sides? In the video looks like you just steamed the front cover side.
I usually just steam the side that is facing up when I’m pressing. My machine only has heat coming from the top side, so I’ll steam the top, press it, and then flip the Comic over and steam and press the backside. I’ve noticed if I have too much moisture on the backside where there is no heat, it may leave ripples and wrinkles in the cover.
@@patriotcomics ah gotcha. that makes sense. thanks for the response.
Wouldnt a eraser pad work just as good
It will work but I personally like the control I get from the retractable eraser tool. I can gauge the pressure I apply to the paper. I’ve ripped comic covers using a eraser pad before. But if you’re careful enough, it will do the same job.
i wouldn't trust 2 books at a time since its probably a different temperature/humidity towards the edges. also, i would have sprayed the humidifier on top of the teflon paper/parchment, not directly on the comic. Nice video though. Thanks.
It’s fine dude
What if you don’t use steam
The stream is pretty important to remove any wrinkles or creases. Also you want to add moisture before you press so you don’t dry out the comic too much under heat. It could possibly cause damage is you don’t use steam.
Aluminum plate is bvetter
Aluminum can rust.
did the foxing go away ?
The dry cleaning helped but didn’t really remove all the foxing. It definitely looks much better than it did originally though.
Can you give me the link to buy the press?
The exact model that I have has been discontinued. Here’s the closest one to mine I could find on Amazon. a.co/d/5SNiwIs
Thanks, I will order it, and practice @@patriotcomics
How do you press modern comics? The paper is less quality.
Pressing modern comics is a little different than pressing vintage comics. There are some good CZcams videos out there showing the process. But in short, you use lower heat and shorter press time. And typically very little or no humidity.
Ok time to correct the bs.1) you dont need to humidize.
2) the cheap amazon press ..not good
Get the big heavy press
3) 210 F you can keep it in as long as you want but put a sheet of parcement paper on top . If the book is water damaged, you need to keep it in there for at least 2 or 3 hours to get out. All the water damage and the book will be flat.
4) You won't get spine, stress marks out and you won't be able to press out corner folds. That is a completely different process which is more of a touch process.
If you have foxing, then you have to soak a paper in 3% hydrogen peroxide. Put it over the comic put it in the press and voila...foxing gone
If you want to get tape off of comic that's a different process using organic solvents like vmp natha etc
Not sure I’d call my info BS, everyone has different ways and techniques. But Thanks for sharing your process.
@@patriotcomics My comment was not meant to say that. What you're talking about s. B. Yes. It's just that I hear so much b. S on the internet about pressing restoring etc. I'm basically the father of this whole process. For example pressing is something we did at the end of spined roll removal. Now everybody seems to have found this simple process and elevated it to mccarbe status. I guess it's good that the most people have put all these trade secrets on the internet. However, people will find that they will ruin many looks. It is not as simple as it appears
@@patriotcomicsdefinitely not b.s. The commenter should work on their delivery so they don’t reinforce the stereotype of the comic book guy from The Simpsons.
Ok then, who sells and what brand of HEAVY DUTY comic press do we want, where can we buy from?? You don't say that...
Do you use regular parchment paper or SRP ? and does either make a difference?
I’ve just been using regular parchment paper that I get from the grocery store. It seems to work fine.