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Found a trick for matching old map colors using coffee stains

Last week I was trying to restore a 1920s map of Denver and couldn't find the right tan for the faded edges. Soaked a paper towel in black coffee and dabbed it on the border, matched perfectly after three tries. Anyone else use kitchen stuff to fix old maps?
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max472
max4727d ago
Hold on, you just dabbed coffee on a hundred year old map?
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loganm52
loganm527d ago
Not sure I'd go straight to coffee on something that old. I use instant coffee mixed with water for paper aging projects but I always test on scrap first. You gotta be really careful about acid content. Old paper is already fragile, coffee can make it worse over time. If it worked for you great, but I'd stick to diluted acrylic washes or tea for the first attempt.
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