[barrysloate]

Scott- a good paper conservator can be called upon to clean, deacidify, and restore some very important documents. I can only hope that he is using chemicals that will help preserve them for the long term. I guess knowing what to use is part of his training.

Greg- best as I can tell, that's a fairly serious stain along the left edge of the Plank. I think one would have to use some mild bleaching agent to get it out. It's not going to come out by applying a damp rag. That stuff soaks into the paper and really is brutal to remove. If you ever get a beater card with a stain like that, try playing around with it. You won't get it clean without the proper solution.

Scott- to continue my thought, the way a conservator would attack that stain would be to start with a very weak bleaching solution, probably too weak to remove it. Then he would progressively add a little bleach, making it as strong as he can without doing damage to the card. If he senses it may be too strong, he will then add water to weaken it. It's a trial and error process.