Removing pencil and crayon marks

[StefanM]

I recently purchased this rare propaganda book printed in early 1946 by the newly established Polish communist regime.

"MILICJA OBYWATELSKA W SLUZBIE NARODO" or "Citizens' Militia in the service of the Nation".

Published by: Wydział Propagandy Zarządu Polityczno-Wychowawczego M.O.R.P. or Propaganda Department of the Board of Political Education M.O.R.P. 1946.




Sadly it has been scribbled on throughout by a child so I have been looking for a suitable eraser that could remove the graphite marks without scrubbing too much away on the cheap printed paper pages.

Below: The defaced title page



Below: From this initial test on the title page I think I have found a good soft eraser that looks like it might do the job on the graphite pencil at least without scrubbing away the surface of the paper or the printing ink. I am being very cautious in applying pressure but with a few more minutes effort I think I will have an acceptable result.

[Larry C]

Crayon is difficult to remove...the kind with a wax base. Once that colored wax gets into the fibers..it is quite difficult to remove. Being of old paper as you stated..makes removal very unstable. Regards larry

[Danmark]

The only thing that will remove crayon is 'white spirit' ..........not much help on a porous surface like paper but when my kids were young and drew on the neighbours plasterboard walls, it was the ONLY thing that got it off!

Dan

[StefanM]

I am thinking of using a warm iron with a cloth between the sole of the iron and the printed page in the hope that the crayon wax might soften, lift off the paper and adhere to the cloth. The aged paper is quite brittle and dry so will try a test on a very small section first.

[Danmark]

Good idea - I stand corrected on white spirit being the 'ONLY' way...... I think the 'heat transfer' method may very well work Stefan.

Cheers, Dan ( & good luck )

[StefanM]

Good idea - I stand corrected on white spirit being the 'ONLY' way...... I think the 'heat transfer' method may very well work Stefan.

Cheers, Dan ( & good luck )

Will post the results... good or bad!

[StefanM]

Before getting the steam iron handbook out to help figure out how to turn it on I thought I would try using a Koh-I-Noor artists kneadable eraser first.

The results in removing the crayon marks were actually pretty good. Again I was very careful not to apply too much pressure whilst rubbing out the crayon marks and whilst there are still traces of colour dye or wax embedded in the paper fibres I think the result is a much cleaner page without the remaing marks distracting too much. I know its never going to be perfectly pristine...God bless that child!

Before:



After:



Below: Koh-I-Noor kneadable eraser: £1.58 from Amazon




Below: The next page I am going to tackle...this child obviously hated the communists!