[Publib] RE: Cleaning books

[Sharon Albert]

Thanks to all who responded about products for cleaning books. We will
definitely try some of those suggestions.

Sharon Albert
Senior Librarian
Linden Free Public Library
31 E. Henry Street
Linden, NJ 07036
908-298-3830
salbert at lindenpl.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Cole, Lisa [mailto:lmcole at auroragov.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:54 PM
To: Linda Myer; Sharon Albert; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Publib] RE: Cleaning books

I posted a similar question to another list recently.
Here is a compilation of responses I received for cleaning books.

Lisa Cole
Reference Librarian - Youth Services
Aurora Public Library
lmcole at auroragov.org


********************************************************************


I use Clorox wipes - in my opinion, they work miracles on gross books.
We always keep a few containers down by our reference desk for clean up.


Clorox Disinfecting Wipes work like a charm.

We wash out books with Demco  Book Cleaner.  It is a semi solid
substance that you can use full strength or dilute with warm water.  We
keep a covered Tupperware container with some  in it at all times to
catch things as they come in.  It does not require rinsing.  We use old
dish towels (no one know where they came from anymore) to wash then dry
the books.  Once the pile of towels is all used, we take turns taking
them home to wash.  It helps to keep up with them as they come over the
desk.  We also put notes in patron's records to remind them to be
careful with out materials when they come in really bad! 

We use a product from Demco called Book Cleaner for Cleaning Soiled Book
Covers. It's a white pasty goo that you wipe on the covers of the books
with a paper towel. It's really good at getting that black sticky gunk
off the covers of books. My coworkers and I often joke that we don't
want to know what they put in this stuff, because it is so good at
getting the goo off that it must be made of some kind of chemicals that
we wouldn't want to be around!

In general, we use baby wipes which we have on hand at all times for
craft clean up.  Generic are cheapest and work well.  We dry them too
with old clean rags which you used to be able to get from Good Will.  We
have volunteers help clean sections of books.  The wipes will take off
some paint off of the old cloth bound Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Box Car
Children books though so you need to take care with those.

we use Clorox or Lysol wipes to clean books

We have been using Lysol wipes for awhile now.  Use them at home, too,
and love them.

We use goo gone to clean any residue left behind from things like
stickers.  It can be expensive if you have alot to clean, but recently I
found it in the dollar store.  After we use the goo gone, we clean with
alcohol or clorox wipes.  They work great.

Hello! You will probably get several people to answer this one! We use a
book cleaner from Demco. It works well and does not damage the covers.
It also goes a long way. Hope this helps.

We use good old alcohol and a soft rag.  It seems to work the best of
anything.  If there is goo or some kind of sticky residue (i.e. from
wayward sticker applications!), we use a little Goo-B-Gone and then
reclean with alcohol.

We use a product from Demco called simply, Book Cleaner.  You can use it
on both covers and pages, and it works really well.

Book Cleaner from Demco is what we have used for years.  You wipe it on
and wipe it off.  Just be sure they are DRY before you reshelf them.

I think this topic is extremely pertinent to this list! Depending on the
"dirt," my staff uses baby wipes (not sure of the brand) for the covers.
Seems to work well!

We use lysol wipes and they work pretty well.

We use diaper wipes and/or Goo-Gone for really stubborn books. Hope this
helps.

Baby wipes are great for cleaning books! Hope this helps.

I can't resist telling you that we have a great thing to clean the
books-- Boy Scouts!  A troop plans to take on the cleaning of our JE
books in January.  I've been told that 4Hers and Girls Scout troops are
always looking for community service projects, so we're hoping to
inspire them to help us out, too.  
What I've been using is a solution of Joy or Dawn dish washing liquid
and dish cloths with a scrubby side.  I'll be very interested in
responses to your question, since this will be our trial run with having
a group come in to help.

We clean every book/video/magaizne as it comes back in.  We have a mild
(diluted with water) windex-type Simple Green solution in a spray bottle
and spray and wipe each book, front and back.  We've done this for about
15 years and the books stay so-o much nicer.

Demco sells a product called book cleaner that we use with cheesecloth
rags to clean books. We have also used baby wipes, which by the way are
great for getting marker and crayon off laminated table tops.

We use  Windex and paper towels.

Depending on the nature of the 'dirt' and the material the book is made
of:  soap and water with a sponge or scratch pad; Goo-gone, alcohol, or
Clean Cover Gel (believe you can purchase it from Demco or one of the
other library places).

We use baby wipes.

Our library cleans every book and video case that gets returned.  Before
they go on the book cart to be reshelved, someone quickly wipes them off
with a sponge that has been sprayed with wintergreen-scented alcohol
(the sponges and spray bottles stay on the desk).  This quickly cleans
them (and gets the more stubborn gunk off too), and helps fight germs.
I've only worked at my library for less than a year, but apparently a
previous director heard about this system at a conference she attended
and decided to implement it.  No one minds doing it, and really, it
helps us, because we feel like it helps keep us well along with having
cleaner books.

We use wipes - the cheap type without aloe or lotion. I think you can
get them at Office Depot in a big round plastic container. They are not
too wet to cause a concern for the covers but seem to get off the
stickys and grunge.

I have just used baby wipes or Clorox wipes to clean the covers.

Believe it or not, we use simple baby wipes.  Some brands are better
than others in so far as scrubbability goes (I'm pretty sure they're
Huggie's),

When it comes to sticky stuff, Goo Gone usually does the trick. Just
don't use too much, or the area you're cleaning will become very slick
and stay damp unless you wipe it with something dry over and over and
over.

watered down vinegar will often do the trick if you do it fairly
regularly. however, if you're talking about years of built up grime
usually the simplest and best solution is a new jacket cover.

Our mends specialist made up a solution of 4 parts water to one part
Avon bubble bath, and it does a good job on most laminated or smooth
covers. Of course, there will always be bubble gum or adhesive that
requires something stronger, but the benefit of our 'book bath', as she
has called it, is that staff using it don't have to worry about a harsh
substance on their hands,

We use OOPS --- it gets all kinds of gunk off.  It doesn't smell very
good though.

We use Demco book cleaner. It's easy to use, effective and inexpensive.
It's available from their catalogs or at www.demco.com


-We use a solution of Lysol multipurpose cleaner (or a generic
concentrate)and water in a spray bottle. I have kids who need community
service and don't want to shelve books so I have them spray each book
that looks grungy and rub it with old raggedy towels that I brought from
home. In between times, if I see one that is dirty I grab the spray
botle and do it my self.

Windex works wonders with the sticky stuff and  permanent marker comes
off with rubbing alcohol.

I occasionally use "Goo Gone" to wash grime and sticky substances from
book jackets and even unjacketed books. It works pretty well, but
sometimes requires some "elbow grease." Goo Gone is available at grocery
stores in our city, with other cleaning products

We use cheap unscented baby-wipes, then dry with paper towel, if
necessary.  We even checked with several experts and they agreed that
was the ticket.