Condoms

Last week we experienced a "first" in our Book Repair Unit and I
thought it might provide a chuckle for this list.  Our technician responded
to a frantic phone call from the circulation desk to find a condom wrapper
used as a bookmark and leaking goo all over the pages.  It had apparently
been there for a while and the "goo" had turned into blue rings.  We decided
that the "goo" was from the lubricant and spermicide since we only had the
opened wrapper in evidence.  Cleaning the pages with rubbing alcohol made no
difference, but acetone did dilute the blue rings.  The technician used lots
of blotting paper and was eventually able to clean the pages enough to make
them readable once again.  The book was dried and is now being pressed.
Of course, we are having fun with conjecturing how the condom wrapper
got there in the first place--the book was a scholarly work on Indian culture.
I won't repeat some of our ideas, but I did want to share the problem and
solution.  It certainly brightened up our day.

Sue Davis
Vanderbilt University

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:21
                Distributed: Sunday, September 20, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-21-003
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