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I have a few books that have light brown spots from tobacco/smoking damage on the pages around the outer edges. How can I remove these from the page?

I have tried wiping lightly with a damp cloth, using an eraser (both soft and hard). I found that the latter methods seemed to damage the page.

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  • do you mean small burn marks?
    – Bamboo
    Jun 3, 2016 at 17:33
  • No, browning which occurs on pages from the page absorbing the toxins in the smoke. Some of the browning grows into bigger spots.
    – user3791372
    Jun 4, 2016 at 0:01
  • The only deposit tobacco makes on things is tar - nicotine is invisible, saltpetre leaves a smell, but its tar that causes yellowish brown staining. If its tar, the only way to remove that is to wash the object thoroughly, though on some things, it remains. It's not possible to thoroughly wash a book clearly, so there is no real way to remove the marks I'm afraid. Spotted stains are probably from other deposits like splashes (food, drink, whatever) which hold onto the tar.
    – Bamboo
    Jun 4, 2016 at 10:49

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Answer:
This is not possible

As Bamboo stated (see comments), if its tar, the only way to remove that is to wash the object thoroughly, though on some things, it remains. It's not possible to thoroughly wash a book clearly, so there is no real way to remove the marks.

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Well, if the pages are pretty white, you can just use white out to get the stains out. Obviously this won't make it look 100% gone, due to discoloration, but it would be better than nothing.

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  • The OP refused my similar suggestion and said it was idiotic. He's nicer the second time and just ignores you. : )
    – Stan
    Jun 22, 2016 at 20:05

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