Soakers have a specialist meaning in the building trade ~ I have used the word as bookcraft term in the hopes that it is self explanatory. Some explanation is necessary.
In bookcraft the adhesives called pastes are very useful ~ but also very wetting. The moisture has to be removed. Invariably this drying-out has also to be taken under pressure ~ which prevents the natural drying of circulating air. Something to help absorb the moisture is near-essential.
Sheets of blotting paper are good ~ but it is not easy to obtain in quantity. It is qlso rather too thick for some purposes.
Sheets of newspaper would be good ~ but the ink may transfer itself to places where it is not wanted ~ nor can it be removed.
Sheets of office paper are useful ~ but not very absorbent.
Cloth would be useful ~ too floppy ~ too thick.
Scrap paper is often mentioned. That presents a problem to me ~ scraps implies being thrown away. The usual scrap paper used by bookbinders is clean and unused, unprinted, newspaper paper ~ known as newsprint. My problem lies in the half of that word ~ print. I spoilt a job once by using paper with printing on it ~ never again. Butchers ~ fish and chip shop owners ~ use newsprint to wrap their food products. You may have noticed that the first wrap is taken from a clean pile of newsprint - subsequent layers may well be of yesterday's newspapers. Newsprint is made from pulped ~ mashed-up ~ boiled ~ beaten ~ wooden chips. So I invented the word chip paper.
At last ~ I have hereby invented the word soakers for whatever is suitable for use above.
Whilst on the subject it is important to mention the need for pressure ~ and thins ~ patience ~ and enough haste and fresh air to avoid mould. More on this ~ to follow.