I have a book that is in great condition, but there is a name written on the top and bottom (sides opposite spine). Is this postable?

Teresa

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whoopsie! double post.

If the writing is on the page edges, holding the book firmly and sanding the edges with a fine sand paper will often remove ink.  Of course, it depends on how much ink.  Some hard core textbook markings will not come off.  But ink and chocolate finger smudges usually do.  

This does not work on deckle edges.  But is great on paperbacks.  

Although sanding works well in many cases, there are a couple things to be aware of when using this technique to remove writing on page edges..

First, sanding works better with ballpoint inks than with rollerball or hard-tipped pens that use water-based or gelled inks. The less viscous nature of water-based and gelled inks tend to saturate more deeply and widely into paper than the more viscous oil-based inks of ballpoints, so the sanding of these may not work very well. It is a good idea to flex the book slightly to see how deeply the ink has penetrated before starting to sand.

Second, if the page edges have yellowed or discolored, the sanded areas may result in a lighter color. These will most likely age to become the same color as the unsanded edges, but may stand out for a while as being brighter. In these cases you may want to consider sanding the entire edge of the book where writing occurs in order to achieve a more uniform color along the edge.

I use sandpaper to clean books sometimes too, however, just to repeat ... your book is OK as is. No sanding is required.

But sandpaper works great on dirt on the page edges. Or fingerprint smudges. Takes it right off.

Thanks for sharing all the "sandpaper cleaning" tips!

Thanks for the input! I appreciate it!