Hello Ram,
Thank you for reaching out to C2C care! This isn't my area of expertise so I've reached out to some of our collections care experts for advice. I'm not sure that any of them will have experience removing makeup residue specifically, however, I imagine they will have some general insight on proper surface cleaning techniques for palm leaf manuscripts that can be applied to your situation. I will share their responses as soon as I hear back from them.
Best,
Nemi
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Nemi Velez
Connecting to Collections Care Community Monitor
Collections Care Technician
Case Western Reserve University Library
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2026 23:22
From: Ram Meenakshisundaram
Subject: Conserving a Palm-Leaf Manuscript with makeup on it
Hi,
I have a palm-leaf manuscript that apparently has some recent makeup on several of the leaves. If I use a dry Q-Tip on a leaf without the lampblack, it comes off, but I don't want to damage the leaves. It somewhat spreads when I do that. Anyone have any tips to remove this? Here are some of the leaves:


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Ram Meenakshisundaram
Minneapolis
United States
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