Subject: Rubber cement
As a graphic artist I can assure you that there is a solvent for rubber cement. Commonly called rubber cement thinner (Bestine is the best known brand) it contains among other things naphtha and hexane. It is flammable and toxic but can be used with care on cotton balls or cotton tipped swabs. It will also dissolve the gum from tape and price tags, but doesn't dissolve nail polish while you work! A simpler way of removing dried rubber cement is the use of a rubber cement pickup square, which is simply a piece of gum rubber available in art supply stores. You rub it over the dried cement and it rolls up into little balls. Old-timers used to make their own pickups out of gobs of dried cement, which grew larger over time, like a rubber band ball. Hope this helps, Ivy Fleck Strickler Drexel University Nesbitt College of Design Arts Philadelphia, PA 19104 215-895-1637 Fax: 215-895-4917 *** Conservation DistList Instance 8:62 Distributed: Tuesday, February 7, 1995 Message Id: cdl-8-62-007 ***Received on Friday, 3 February, 1995