So if perhaps you are a terrible cel custodian....

[blueshinma]

and you have a cel on your desk waiting to be scanned. And perhaps you may have spilled a glass of a light, dry, fruit forward riesling on said cel. Yes you blotted it up with a soft rag, but should you give the cel warm. bubbly bath with a mild soap? Sugar and acid don't seem like good things for your cel, but would a bit of dish soap be bad?? Any thoughts?

[sensei]

In my experience cels are OK with water and mild dishwashing soap, if you are gentle. But don't overdo it, as water can soften cel paint, and then you can find yourself rubbing it off where it has been applied in a very thin layer (e.g., hair tips). If you have a microfiber cloth (I have one for cleaning my glasses, which often get dropped into tumblers of craft beer), you might use that.

[blueshinma]

Thanks Sensei! I thought dish soap would be best.
I'm just thankful it wasn't the sketch set or the backgrounded cel sitting to the other side! Thinks I will get around to that scanning thing today before the kitten strikes again.

[JWR]

Thanks Sensei! I thought dish soap would be best.
I'm just thankful it wasn't the sketch set or the backgrounded cel sitting to the other side! Thinks I will get around to that scanning thing today before the kitten strikes again.

Oh sure, Blame it on the poor sweet little defenceless kitten

[ginga123]

hahaha and, what were you drinkin'??

[Grico]

Wow, I always get paranoid when I am scanning that I will inadvertently spill something. This story will make me even more vigilant the next time I do.

[D123]

I make sure not to have anything around when I’m scanning and when I do have something I make sure it’s FAR away from the artwork.
Now that I can use my scanner in my room all I have to do is boot the cats out otherwise you really need to guard your stuff

[blueshinma]

If I ever try to close a door on the varmints, the fat old Tom cat will physically throw himself against the door. The Little one will just start screaming. As for the lost wine it was a glass of J.Lohr Monterey County Riesling. It is my new favorite summer wine And no, I never actually got around to scanning, as stated I'm a terrible collector.

[Shampoo]

I once left a Naruto sketch out to scan with a soda can nearby.
The ferret, upon seeing this mischievous opportunity, jumped onto the desk
and knocked over the soda to see how mommy would react.
Of course, I flipped out, the ferret laughed, and the sketch became a wet spit wad.

Oh well!
Lesson learned the hard way lol!

[D123]

If I ever try to close a door on the varmints, the fat old Tom cat will physically throw himself against the door. The Little one will just start screaming.

Haha sounds just like my cats when I go in the one room the two claw on the door like crazy they’ve ripped up most of carpet trying to get in you gotta love them though

I once left a Naruto sketch out to scan with a soda can nearby...
and the sketch became a wet spit wad.

sorry to hear about that, sounds like something that would happen to me

[Thanatos]

I use this topic because my question is in the same order of ideas.

I have a cel that seems to be a little dirty on the recto. Is there a problem if I use water to remove it ? For what I know, the paint is made on the verso, so I don't think there is a problem, but...

Thanks.

[sensei]

Yes but go easy. If you hold the cel at an angle against a light, you'll see that there are extra trace lines on the front. Some of these are colored traces used to cover the black trace lines laid on the back of the cel before painting, and they can be quite delicate. I would mostly work on the part that is blank on both sides.

It is very possible, too, that the "dirt" is in fact discoloration inside the sheet of plastic. Some of the acetate stocks used by studios were not very high in quality. And so as time passes they begin to break down chemically, especially if they had been maintained in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment. So clean a blank corner and see if you've made any difference. If not, probably your best bet is to back it with a lighter sheet of scrapbooking paper that doesn't call attention to the "dust."

[Thanatos]

Thank you for the answer sensei .

But seeing that, and because I am not a specialist and that the dirt is very light, I think I will not try to clean the cel. I would at least avoid damaging it .

[sensei]

Primum no nocere ("above all, don't make matters worse") is a good motto in cel conservation as with medicine. Thanks for asking!

You might try canned air. I remember using that a great deal with I was into photography (and dust on the negative enlarged to meteoroid size in the print if you didn't get it off).