What is Comic Book Dry Cleaning and Pressing?

Many books can be potentially improved with dry cleaning and pressing. Books with creases, folds, or surface imperfections that do not break colour, bends, dirt, or ink transfer can all be removed or reduced by cleaning and pressing. Dry cleaning, hydrating and then hot/cold pressing reduces or removes a variety of comic book defects. We will first assess your comics before treatment to determine if they are good candidates for improvement.

Dry cleaning uses gentle erase materials that lifts and removes dirt, ink transfer and other substances from comic books. It does not remove restoration, foxing, dust/sun shadows or damage such as tears to a book. Individual technical treatment is given to each book with dry cleaning to remove ink transfer, dirt, debris and more. 

Pressing can reduce or remove minor flaws or defects such as dents, bends, rippling due to moisture, non-colour breaking stress lines, impressions, and other defects. Pressing a book can use any combination of heat, pressure, and humidification (when necessary) to remove these issues. Comics are then inspected after cleaning and pressing to ensure the best consistent results are achieved before they are sent back to you or submitted for grading. 

What Pressing is NOT

It is important to understand that not everything can be removed with a press and clean. We will make recommendations when we believe your book will not benefit from a press.

Some examples of non-fixable defects include (but not limited to) colour breaking stress lines, colour breaking spine ticks, severe spine ticks, extreme soiling and staining as well as rips and tears.

Examples of Cleaning

Examples of Pressing

Request Services

If you are interested in submitting a book(s) for pressing or cleaning service, please fill out the contact form below and we will get back to you within 48hrs.