How can paper be bleached of its text?
February 26, 2008 8:51 PM Subscribe
How can paper be bleached of its text?
I had a great idea for notebooks, if only i knew how to perform a necessary step.
That is--i found that the paper in many old books i have is quite æsthetically pleasing, but sometimes the meaning of the text is not :)
So then, i thought, why pay for fancy moleskines, if only the text could vanish from these pages!
But traditional paper recycling cannot be done, for that would require unbinding all of the pages, and turning that into pulp.. and so on. Pointless if i wanted to keep the paper and binding as it is.
The only method i came up with (but have yet to try) for doing this is to soak the pages in a photo emulsion and expose it to white light. Would that work? And then if it does, would the process of purchasing the necessary materials exceed that of just buying some moleskines?
I had a great idea for notebooks, if only i knew how to perform a necessary step.
That is--i found that the paper in many old books i have is quite æsthetically pleasing, but sometimes the meaning of the text is not :)
So then, i thought, why pay for fancy moleskines, if only the text could vanish from these pages!
But traditional paper recycling cannot be done, for that would require unbinding all of the pages, and turning that into pulp.. and so on. Pointless if i wanted to keep the paper and binding as it is.
The only method i came up with (but have yet to try) for doing this is to soak the pages in a photo emulsion and expose it to white light. Would that work? And then if it does, would the process of purchasing the necessary materials exceed that of just buying some moleskines?
Check washing is a scam used to clean ink off of checks, allowing them to be re-written in greater amounts and/or to different payees. This website has a demonstration of the technique (using several different chemicals), which may actually have a legitimate purpose with your project.
posted by katemonster at 9:11 PM on February 26, 2008
posted by katemonster at 9:11 PM on February 26, 2008
Uh...yeah. Guess I should have been a little more specific as to why I was talking about check fraud.
Thanks, KateMonster. And awesome nick.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:30 PM on February 26, 2008
Thanks, KateMonster. And awesome nick.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:30 PM on February 26, 2008
It would depend greatly on the type of paper and the type of ink. It's impossible to answer in any greater detail.
I believe photographic emulsion turns black when exposed to light.
posted by gjc at 9:32 PM on February 26, 2008
I believe photographic emulsion turns black when exposed to light.
posted by gjc at 9:32 PM on February 26, 2008
Check washing is probably not going to do you much good, as that is an attack on dye based inks.
Aren't you writing your checks with the same ball point that you use to write in your notebook? The big caveat is not to use gel pens. Everything I've ever seen on check washing says that they don't wash.
posted by SlyBevel at 10:25 PM on February 26, 2008
Aren't you writing your checks with the same ball point that you use to write in your notebook? The big caveat is not to use gel pens. Everything I've ever seen on check washing says that they don't wash.
posted by SlyBevel at 10:25 PM on February 26, 2008
SlyBevel, fjardt is trying to erase the printed pigmented inks from BOOKS in order to turn the books into notebooks. He is not trying to erase hand-written ink from notebooks to reuse them as notebooks.
posted by lizzicide at 11:23 PM on February 26, 2008
posted by lizzicide at 11:23 PM on February 26, 2008
He is not trying to erase hand-written ink from notebooks to reuse them as notebooks.
Then I completely misunderstood what's going on here. Very sorry. Washing probably won't work.
posted by SlyBevel at 11:45 PM on February 26, 2008
Then I completely misunderstood what's going on here. Very sorry. Washing probably won't work.
posted by SlyBevel at 11:45 PM on February 26, 2008
There's a couple things I'd try: bleach, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, maybe even mineral spirits (though the paper probably wouldn't last long in that stuff, depending).
Not knowing anything about the chemistry of printed ink, I'm assuming the stuff is at least partially soluble in a non-polar solvent.
A solution of laundry stain remover might also work.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:23 AM on February 27, 2008
Not knowing anything about the chemistry of printed ink, I'm assuming the stuff is at least partially soluble in a non-polar solvent.
A solution of laundry stain remover might also work.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 10:23 AM on February 27, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by SlyBevel at 9:10 PM on February 26, 2008