Undoing

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an Undo button for things in real life?

In Preservation we spend a fair amount of time undoing expedient repairs of the past. Most of the time this involves some kind of tape — cellophane tape, Magic Mend tape, book cloth tape, gummed tape, duct tape, you name it. Tape may seem like a good idea at first, but ultimately it does more harm than good. The adhesive may dry out, the tape falls off, leaves permanent and/or sticky stains, and generally is not very nice.

Fortunately we have a few tricks up our proverbial sleeves. Some involve solvents, others involve heat. Unfortunately, they usually take a fair amount of time!

Barcode labels are a lot like tape. Sometimes they end up where they don’t belong, so we are asked to remove them. We use a heated, spatula-shaped tool to soften the adhesive and gradually pull the label off using fine tweezers. If the paper or other material under the label is in good condition, the results are usually pretty good. When the paper, leather, or cloth underneath is fragile, it is more difficult, and satisfactory results are less assured.

After the label has come off, the real work begins: a sticky film of adhesive usually remains on the paper, which we get off using erasers. Erasing in a circular motion helps ball up the adhesive so it can be picked off – a little bit at a time. Without tearing the paper of course. Again, again, and again until it is no longer sticky.

Although the labels and adhesive can be removed, unfortunately stains often remain. So folks, be thoughtful out there with tape and other sticky things!