Cleaning a 100+ year old postcard

[jameswithwings]

I have a rather valuable turn-of-the-century postcard. It has quite a bit of soiling and I'm wondering if it can be cleaned using water. Does anyone have experience with this type of cleaning or should I just leave it alone ? Any info would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks !

[gloopy01]

This really depends on the type of paper.  If the card has a gel or glossy finish, leave it alone; it's pretty much the medical principle, "First do no harm."

First choice would be to try a gum eraser.  Swipe outward to avoid causing a crease.

You can try soaking the card in distilled water overnight and then putting it between layers of paper towels,  Put a large flat object like a cooking sheet on it then a heavy object.  Change the paper towels after a few hours.

Any attempt to clean it will present some element of risk.  You could send it to a professional paper restoration lab, but that would cost big bucks.

[deltilogical]

Coin collectors would be screaming DON'T CLEAN IT!  

Beyond erasing prices with a white eraser I would leave it alone. 

Was it postally used?  Don't touch it!  

if you don't mind some risk real photos can be resoaked in water and hung out to dry like the photos they are but I would never purposely expose 100 year old lithography to water.  

photos would help

[jameswithwings]

Thanks gloopy01 !

[jameswithwings]

Thanks deltilogical ! It's not a photo card but it was postally used. I will probably just go over it gently with an eraser. 

[deltilogical]

Don't use an red eraser whatever you do.   The white erasers seem to be ok, although on a glossy paper it does kind of leave a mark.  I'm not sure if a white eraser is a "gum eraser" as referred to by gloopy01.   There are special archival products for paper sellers/collectors.

The back of one of my cards was totally covered by scuffing and I used a white eraser to remove.

I soaked a rppc to get off some paper residue which worked fine, and the card dried ok, but the image under the residue was damaged beyond repair.

[cambriachick]

Hi jameswithwings,

You can have it professionally cleaned.  Don't try it yourself and risk damaging it.  Find out the price before you dismiss the idea, it might be worth it.  I don't know where you're located, but I have used Poster Mountain in Northridge Ca. for paper issues and they are excellent.

[njrtsr]

Personally I wouldn't touch it, except to erase dealer marks from the back, and sell it as is. Not worth the risk of damage in my opinion, and if the buyer wants to clean it they can take on that risk.