Question regarding old cloth book covers

Thanks for the tip Jerry! I'll check it out.

Best,
Eric

Jerry Morris wrote:
Eric,

I once knew a bookseller who cleaned all of her cloth books with
Fredelka Formula for Fine Leather. The Fredelka restored the color of
the cloth and really made her books shine.

You might want to try some Fredelka on the rear cover of one of the
books. I think it will provide a protective coating to seal in the dye.
You can find Fredelka listed on the web. I belieive it is also listed
in the RCB FAQ.

I don't think the color of the dye has anything to do with the problem
of your green bookcloths, because I've seen the same problem with a red
bookcloth. I believe the bookcloths themselves were improperly sized
during the manufacturing process.

Bookcloths require an ingredient to strengthen the material, and to
provide a sealant for the dye. Starch and pyroxylin are two of the
ingredients used in this process. Improper sizing will allow moisture
to affect the cloth more easily, possibly causing dye runoff, or, in
your case, stained hands.

For more information on the bookcloth itself and its ingredients, here's
a link to the Etherington and Roberts Dictionary:

http://www.tinyurl.com/3sh3e


Happy New Year Everybody!

Jerry Morris

(Eric Wright)
I recently acquired a 10 book set of Robert Louis Stevenson's works
printed in 1930. They are in very good shape with one exception: They
have green dyed cloth covers and when handling the books the dye comes
off on your fingers. Now I am not an expert on old books but I do like
to read. I really just want to be able to enjoy these fine old volumes
and take the necessary steps to preserve them. Is there anything that I
can do to prevent this from happening or does this just happen normally
with age? I have been searching for answers on this but have not been
able to find any. Thanks very much for your time.


Welcome to Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
My Sentimental Library http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary and
moislibrary.com http://www.tinyurl.com/hisn

Bro-dart's new catalog has this product and other products as well. I
hadn't seen these in their catalog before, might be worth checking out.

Randy

--

"Eric Wright" wrote in message
m...

I once knew a bookseller who cleaned all of her cloth books with
Fredelka Formula for Fine Leather. The Fredelka restored the color of
the cloth and really made her books shine.

You might want to try some Fredelka on the rear cover of one of the
books. I think it will provide a protective coating to seal in the dye.
You can find Fredelka listed on the web. I belieive it is also listed
in the RCB FAQ.

I don't think the color of the dye has anything to do with the problem
of your green bookcloths, because I've seen the same problem with a red
bookcloth. I believe the bookcloths themselves were improperly sized
during the manufacturing process.

Bookcloths require an ingredient to strengthen the material, and to
provide a sealant for the dye. Starch and pyroxylin are two of the
ingredients used in this process. Improper sizing will allow moisture
to affect the cloth more easily, possibly causing dye runoff, or, in
your case, stained hands.

For more information on the bookcloth itself and its ingredients, here's
a link to the Etherington and Roberts Dictionary:

http://www.tinyurl.com/3sh3e


Happy New Year Everybody!

Jerry Morris

(Eric Wright)
I recently acquired a 10 book set of Robert Louis Stevenson's works
printed in 1930. They are in very good shape with one exception: They
have green dyed cloth covers and when handling the books the dye comes
off on your fingers. Now I am not an expert on old books but I do like
to read. I really just want to be able to enjoy these fine old volumes
and take the necessary steps to preserve them. Is there anything that I
can do to prevent this from happening or does this just happen normally
with age? I have been searching for answers on this but have not been
able to find any. Thanks very much for your time.


Welcome to Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
My Sentimental Library http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary and
moislibrary.com http://www.tinyurl.com/hisn