How To Clean A Book

_{28th Apr 11}

We know the IT technology is growing rapidly, so rapidly soon there’ll be such a thing as paperless offices. The fact however remains that books and papers still fill up our offices and homes.

Whilst files and paper has a life after “death” where by they’re thrown away, books are things that are kept.

However they gather dust and decay (no really! not just teeth!) and eventually damage and need o be looked after.

You never know when you will need to look in a book and not the Internet for research. Whilst your domestic cleaning company will clean the bookshelves as part of their cleaning service, cleaning old and valuable books is something you should do yourself.

There are two steips to cleaning books.
Cleaning the outside and the inside.

Cleaning the Outside
Wipe the surface with clean paper or a soft dry coth to remove dust.
Don’t allow any of the dampness or chemicals to touch the paper as it may damage it.
If the book has a glossy cover you can use a little window cleaning spray that is applied to a soft cloth that is then used to wipe the cover.
NEVER SPRAY CLEANING PRODUCTS DIRECTLY ON THE COVER.
For leather bound books, place a little petroleum jelly to a soft cloth and apply it to the leathe.
Then use a dry soft cloh to rub it to a shine. Do not use any house cleaning sprays or polishes on leather bound books not only could they damage this delicate leather, the spray or polish.

Cleaning the Inside
Use a piece of dry white bread to clean the edges of the pages. Keep the book closed and wipe around the sides of the pages with the bread which will absorb the dirt.