Hi guys,

What, if anything, can be done to combat staple rust.  Is it feasable to remove rusting staples and replace.  Does this hurt value?  Do you buy if staple rust is mentioned.  Wondering what you longtime collectors do about this?

Martin

b_stedman wrote:I say leave it be - you know it's genuine.
I'm more cautious if it isn't rusty

BJS

Agreed; certainly for the older material.

Rusty Staples...
Rusty Staples
Rusty Staples
The dreaded staple rust

On an otherwise fine item I personally wouldn't consider staple rust as a major fault unless it's really bad. (Rather a minty, crisp Greyhawk with some staple rust than a fairly well used copy with none).
The tendency to rust varies so much from product to product, anyhow; even within printings of the OD&D books, for example.

Prufrock wrote:Harami2000,

Thanks for the links to the old threads. I'm going to leave the rusted staples alone for now.

Martin

WD40 and wire wool get rid of staple rust. Vinegar is also quite good.

deimos3428 wrote:Anyway, all of these solutions would severely damage the paper around the staples, so definitely remove 'em first.

That's funny. That's exactly what happened to my copy of Blackmoor. Wire wool gets rid of those annoying pencil marks too, and vinegar softens the paper up nicely.