I appreciate that! Thanks for the kind words, it makes a big difference to me!

Thanks my friend!

Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot 🥲

Thank you kindly!

Welcome Mate!

Hey man, thanks for the kind words, it is much appreciated!!!!!

Thanks so much you really made my day!

Thanks my friend!!!

Boom!

Glad to hear that, you made my day!

Hey thanks for the wishes . Good luck on your journey!

Thanks Jim, I appreciated the kind words! I fully recognized that my videos are not stimulating or exciting in any way. But as someone once told me, if you get bored easily then cleaning comic books is definitely not for you, lol!

Hi Alfred. I always love your comments. I think you are onto something with the academy course. I'm still trying to fine tune the people I started training back in February in person. There's a confidence wall that I think gets to some people. The first time you get a very delicate book that's worth >$10k it gives many people pause (as it should). Spine tics are a special thing that it takes lots of practice and finesse to remove. any reasonable person can press a book without much risk to the book, but with spine tics one has to put in more work and theres a risk of making a little blob of discolored area, particularly around the staples. Additionally, its just a lot of work. Your chamfered boards will help a lot in that respect. Thanks to the advice of a viewer I am going to start making special spine tic boards from the hundreds or thousands of my defective chamfered boards. (I get 2-3 defective boards for every successful one, its a tough process). Good luck!

I did! went shooting and took my kids to the airplane museum in Seattle and has a steak dinner!

Thank you!

I will do that Antonio, thanks for the kind words!

That drives me crazy when I see people bend those books over in a rack!

Much appreciated!!

Thanks so much!

Glad you like them!

My pleasure. Thanks for watching.

Thanks man, I wish everybody felt that way!

Thanks for the kind words !

You are so welcome!

Thank you my friend!

yes indeed! I think it will happen in about a month!

Glad you like them! I just try to keep things positive here. Kindness all around. Its the chemist way! :-)

Thanks!

You crack me up! I record this video Saturday but my wife made me promise not to post it until 5am today because she gets too many orders online after I post videos and she needed a break!

@@ImmaculateComics Ha .. in case she asked about my order please don’t say my name 🤫🥴

its so that some of the moisture and gases are removed from the surface of the book before cleaning. so that they don't create a minor discoloration on the surface from a local heat-affected zone.

Thanks my brother!

Winning!!!

Nice! Share some pictures!

@@ImmaculateComics can't on here dont know why? Lol

Thanks so much Bo!

Thanks! There is a list of links on my website to items I recommend on Amazon. There should be a comic book press in there! Https://immaculatecomics.com

Thanks for the kind words. mine only has a high and low setting but on high it is about 155 degrees F

Thanks so much for the kind words! Preheating before steaming helps both sides of the paper become about the same temperature faster, but steaming just the outside of the book the outer cover becomes hotter and the pages can curl up more after pressing. That doesnt always happen but it sometimes does

I keep the heat relatively low at about 130F

Sheesh that’s a good question. I don’t know if any books, but I suppose they exist. Thanks for the kind words!

Its called "perfect steamer" and its just a cheap one

That might have worked too jn this case but I just used my regular old immacuclean solution. Since it was handy. It’s available on my website immaculatecomics.com !!

Yeah I typically put two chamfer boards, sometimes I don’t if the cover is really misaligned or the back doesn’t have any tics because it’s white

Yeah I totally get that. it’s definitely not for everyone

Thanks for the kind words. A ball bearing sort of works but I prefer to rub it in the opposite side with the back of my microspatula. I put a sheet of paper between the cover and the spatula and use a figure 8 pattern. That’s why my kids insecure a spatula but not a ball bearing. Have fun!

@@ImmaculateComics You're the best, thank you!

Thanks my friend!

It’s a tacking iron. I could sell them on my website if there’s enough interests. I bought this one at hobby lobby

It’s capillary action induced by uneven heating . It’s reduced when you used a metal pressing plate and even further reduce if you heat from both sides at once. It eventually will go away with cold pressing or if you rub some DI water in just the inside of a cover and then press again .

I recommend presses with a spring and not a fulcrum. I am fond of the fancier studio brand!

its just a piece of my silicone Kraft paper that I cut into a workable size. Thanks for asking, I should have mentioned that!

@@ImmaculateComics , thanks Rick. I’ve been working on my collection for the last week (it’s a lot of work ). I accumulated a lot of 60s, 70s,80s comics in the early 90s. There was no way I was going to sit down with an eraser and spend an hour+ going over the front and back covers, actually at 70 there’s probably not enough time - ha ! Your immacuclean is what is most efficient. I still use an eraser but I find that using the immacuclean correctly really makes the colors pop, it’s amazing how much dirt can dull the colors and how you can bring them back. When I first look at a book the colors are what catch my eye first, for me it’s what puts the book in a range at first glance, then I start to count spine tics and blunted corners . Thanks much for sharing and marketing your products, you could have easily kept them to yourself. I’ve ordered all your products and multiple bottles of the immacuclean. I’d be very interested in your cold pressing techniques. Thanks again. John

I'm not quite sure what a "center fold board" is, can you help me understand?

I find that if you get the entire cover wet or steam it well there's no practical difference from using a humidifier....at least on the cover. The interior pages may profit from a humidifier of they are badly wrinkled.

@@ImmaculateComics thank you. Are you using a hot steamer, like the ones you can buy for clothes?

@@breakbeatz309 yes that's exactly it. Only get a good one that doesn't so it got ball of liquid onto your book!

@@ImmaculateComics thank you!

Hey Michale and thanks for the birthday wishes. People put the silicone paper on the bottom because the bottom of the heat press can leave a pattern in the book cover. The silicone paper makes it look more even. the bottom is hot when I press thanks to preheating those Al plates. Honestly I use cotton micro chamber interleaving paper much of the time on the bottom myself, anyway as the SRP goes bad too fast and the thicknesses at which I buy it makes it very expensive!

@@ImmaculateComics I've noticed that with the SRP paper. One use and it shrivels up around the edges. I've had better repeated use from parchment paper. Thanks so much for the reply. Really appreciate you for taking the time to teach your techniques to us.

I use different sizes, mostly silver age/ golden age size for comics and magazine sized ones when I need to. But I am learning that I am having them cut not exactly to standard comic book sizes. Its not intentional, I just want them to be slightly larger than the books themselves

Well my friend, that's an interesting question. I'll just say that it is possible to be done and without adding any ink. However is verynriskymsonive vowed never to show anyone how to do it. I'm sorry to be so mysterious but I wanted you to know it is possible for certain colors.

Https://immaculatecomics.com

microspatula! they are in my dry cleaning kits!

Well those are great questions. First of all I’ll say that getting a heat press is a very very far distance from what I would consider “all out”. I would say that a heat press is much closer to a starting point than the ultimate completion of equipment and materials. I mention it just to calibrate my perspective to yours. If you just use a tracking iron , you and everyone else will be able to see when you used the iron. It’s impossible to make the entire cover uniform with just a tracking iron or even a regular clothing iron. When looking for evidence of previous cleanings I can very often see evidence of tacking or clothing irons. If you don’t mind that , then sure you are fine with a tracking iron and a coke press board. If also had some success with using an aluminum heating panel that I put in the oven then put on a comic book under some weights. That’s a lot better than a tracking iron for uniformity. So I guess the answer is that your definition of decent results and going all out may be very very different than mine. It’s worth trying a lot of things and seeing what works best for you!

@@ImmaculateComics Thanks for the info. Yeah, I just want to fix some spine tics on some of my moderns. Spending $20 on a tacking iron is a little easier on the wallet then spending a couple hundred on a press. Especially since I don't plan on sending many book in to get graded. I usually just buy slabbed. Just looking for an inexpensive ways to get out some defects.

@@moodswing4460 well in that case you should be just fine with a tracking iron. I’d recommend a chamfered board thought to preserve a natural spine shape

@@ImmaculateComics and I would assume your cleaning solution would also help just to take off the surface dirt? I do have a feeling once I start, I will probably end up still getting a press and more equipment lol. Financially and time wise, that doesn't make logical sense though ha.

@@moodswing4460 the immacuclean removes soil and handling stuff but no yellowing or fixing. Financially and time wise this is definitely NOT a profitable enterprise for most people. If you consider paying yourself for your time and the prints you can realized after expenses I would say it is most definitely not for profit.

I bet! good luck my friend!

yes there are medium and small press machines too!

If there's no reason to preserve the spine integrity then I don't use a chamfered board. I also finally perfected the board development only about 8 months ago as it took a long time to get a method that made a chamfered edge that didn't make a rough looking line in a book spine!

@@ImmaculateComics just bought some and waiting for them to arrive

Both!

Your website is down (6/3/21) in case that is something you sell, I did check there first.

Hi Corey, my website will be down until 6/6/21 but I can still sell boards for $4 each. Email me at rick@immaculatecomics.com of you want some. I have 27 in stock now.

I will be sending to CGC directly in July. See my website at immaculatecomics.com to schedule work! Thanks!

@@ImmaculateComics send me your email please

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to me it's like selling my children. I just can't do it!

I got mine at hobby lobby but I can source them and put them on my website if theres an interest!

@@ImmaculateComics I might be interested, going to check the hobby lobby.

@@dberik7558 I think they are $23 there. I believe I can buy 100 of them for about $1600 plus shipping

@@ImmaculateComicsI think it would be a nice addition to your kit. I just picked one up, but I would have ordered it from you with the other things if it had been available. Great site, love the science behind your love for comics! thanks

@@dberik7558 love Chemistry and comics I’m gonna be around for a while 😈 Rick making Collecting fun again .. that 4 weeks waiting list for knocked up jobs I’m done with .. Love my comics too much I hate spine tics 😂

Thanks a million Florian!

It kills me too, my friend. All books are flawed, some are still pretty!

@@ImmaculateComics dude this can’t be life .. went over my slabs 🤯 soo not fair specially 9.6 with micro tics 🤦🏾‍♂️ one thing I know Batman 423 heading your way soon 😈 appreciate you brother 👊🏾