The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Any suggestions on how to remove oil from old documents, like instruction manuals oiled from setting in the bottom of a phonograph? Is it even possible? I was thinking of sprinking them with baking soda and letting them sit but am concerned that could cause other problems, like corrosion of the staples?

Bruce,

(I know book collectors use baking soda to remove mildew smell from books, so the chances of damage are small.)

I don't the answer, but I would suggest you find a good museum and speak to the conservator. They probably know the elixir required.

Powdered clay absorbs oil, not soda.

I have just got back cleaned and restored instructions (Columbia Phonograph Co., Washington D.C. address) for my "Bijou" Graphophone (Type N) of 1895. It indeed came from the bottom of the phonograph and looked accordingly. The academically qualified paper conservator did a marvelous job on this unique(?) document.

If you neither have the expert skill nor the tools (e.g. vacuum table) my advice is to leave such work to specialists.

If you spill oil on paper unscented talcum powder is a good absorbent and won't harm it. just brush as much away as you can after.

I've used charcoal lighter to clean paper. I had some very moldy 45rpm picture sleeves, and it was able to "dry clean" them quite well just by rinsing them off with the fluid and letting them dry. Gently wiping with a paper towel helps, if the paper is strong enough to handle it. Being a solvent that (in my experience) doesn't harm paper, I imagine it would get rid of some of the oil on the surface, but it might not get rid of any staining or color change brought on by the oil.

You could try naphtha (Ronsonol lighter fluid), too. It's an excellent degreaser for metal parts, but I haven't used it on paper. I'd try the talcum powder first.

A layer of talc powder, covered by blotting paper and a warm (not too hot) iron will usually draw out oil from paper with amazing results.

My office is housed in the library of a local college and I found some original instructions in my Edison Home that were oil and grease stained over time. The librarian who had studied recovery and restoration techniques recommended using fuller's earth to remove the material and the staining. Fuller's earth can be purchased many places online and at some auto supply stores as it is used to clean up oil and grease spills in shops. She recommended heavily sprinkling the fuller's earth on a clean paper, layer the damaged pages between layers of the fuller's earth, then place a weight such as a book on the 'sandwich'. Let it sit for a few days and even re-treat if it doesn't remove the stain the first time. I tried it and it removed the material and much of the stain.

Thanks for all of the suggestions by suggestions. So far I've just tried one of my own and got a significant improvement.

I simply laid sheets of toilet paper between the sheets of the document and on top and bottom. Then I put the doc in a thin magazine and on top of the magazine stacked about a dozen diamond disc records to compress it. The document came out nice and flat and noticeably less oily. Still some staining but I think for now I'll probably just live with that.