On Aug 11, 21:29, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Aug 2003, Peter Turnbull wrote:
>
> > Since it's essentially coloured wax, I wonder if the technique used
to
> > remove wax (candle wax, usually) from clothing might work? It's
> > basically a case of ironing a sheet of brown (wrapping) paper over
the
> > wax. Paper-on-paper probably won't work as well as paper-on-cloth,
so
> > I'd try it on something unimportant first!
>
> Hmm, good suggestion. Might wax paper also work?
I don't think so, as it's already got a lot of wax on/in it. The
effect is to melt the wax with the iron and use the paper to wick it
out. Writing paper might be a reasonable substitute, or the kind of
tissue paper used for wrapping.
If you want to try a solvent approach, eiher turpentine substitute or
"white spirit" (oil paint thinner, somewhat like light, white kerosene)
might work. Apply with a small artist's brush, and dab off with
kitchen roll.
Another possible method might be to use a scalpel with a pointed blade
(10A or 11) to gently scape away the wax. This is the same as the
method used to retouch photographic negatives and B/W prints, something
I used to do in a former career -- and was pretty good at. It takes a
lot of patience, though; you must only scrape a tiny amount at a time
(this method works for Indian ink as well). It doesn't work very well
for endorsing ink, as that gets right into the fabric of the paper.
Yet another trick for cleaning up marks and grubbiness on books (pencil
marks, fingerprints, dirt) is to use a soft putty rubber (from an art
supplier) or Blu-Tak. Push a blob of Blu-Tak onto the mark, pull it
off; repeat until bored. I've often used that technique, once to clean
a set of very valuable exhibition photographs that had acquired dusty
fingerprints.
Please note, these are only suggestions -- I've not tried any of these
on wax pencil!
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Tue Aug 12 2003 - 02:55:00 BST