How to Use Corflu Department

The following less than immediately useful information appeared in APA:NESFA #37, June 1973. Those of my readers who are still preparing mimeograph stencils may find it useful.

Corflu is fanspeak for Stencil Correction Fluid. It’s cheap. Use it. A bottle of corflu goes a long way. (George Washington once threw a bottle of corflu across the Delaware, but that was because he was a lousy typist and had a short temper.) You may purchase corflu at stationary stores, the coop, etc. If you don’t see it, ask for stencil correction fluid.

Let us suppose that you are typing a stencil and that you have made an error. Grasp the bottle of corflu in one hand. Grasp the lid of the bottle with the other hand. Unscrew the lid of the bottle. You will notice a brush attached to the lid of the bottle that goes down into the bottle. This brush will have corflu on it. (It will unless the bottle is very low, in which case you may have to tilt the bottle to get some corflu on the brush. If you can’t get any on the brush the bottle is empty. Go buy another bottle.)

Remove the lid of the bottle from the bottle. Brush the brush against the lip of the bottle to remove the excess corflu. Set the bottle down to free the hand holding the bottle. (Ignore this direction if you have three or more hand, or if you are very skilled in manipulating the stencil and typewriter with your teeth.)

Roll up the stencil in the typewriter so that the area to be corflued [Shame, Richard, for using such a word] is accessible. (This may be done before you open the bottle of corflu – in fact it is desirable to do so for reasons specified in Appendix A.) [There was no Appendix A.]

If you are using film, lift the film off of the stencil. (It is not in the least bit effective to apply corflu to the film.)

Lift the stencil away from the backing sheet. This is important. You won’t notice it at the time, but if corflu is applied to the stencil while it is still touching the backing sheet corflu will seep through the stencil and stick to the backing sheet. When you separate the stencil and the backing sheet later bad things will happen.

Apply the corflu to the area to be corflued. Apply it lightly. Touch the brush to the area to be corflued and spread the corflu. It is important to not glob it on. (Unless you are putting out a globzine.) Globs don’t repro very well, and it will be hard to cut the correction through the glob.

Don’t not put the stencil back onto the backing sheet until the corflu has dried. Corflu dries very quickly so it is advisable to apply it with a certain amount of celerity. It is permitted to blow on the corflu to get it to dry more quickly. After you have applied the corflu put the lid back on the bottle. (A bottle of corflu will dry out if it is left open. Before it does this it gets thick and sludgy. If you leave open bottles of corflu around you are thick and sludgy.)

If you have the amount of coordination necessary for tying your shoe laces you will quickly discover that it is possible to lift up the stencil with one hand and apply the corflu with the other hand all in one quick series of motions. Live dangerously – try it. You can tell if the area to be corrected is adequately covered by looking at the stencil. Places where it isn’t covered will appear white. But remember that the whole idea is to put it on lightly and not use more than is needed.