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mildly moldy books
Ever since I moved at the beginning of this year, most of my possessions, including books, have been stored at a friend's basement. Recently she asked me to move them from the basement to the garage, and we discovered that most of the boxes on the bottom level were moldy along the bottom side. Several of those boxes had books in them :(
A few books got really damaged. But a larger number of books just got a bit of mold along one edge, the edge that was adjacent to the bottom side of the box. Most of these are still perfectly readable, a bit warped from dampness, and a bit discolored by mold along the edge to varying degrees.
Those of you who know how to deal with books: What's the best thing to do to these? Do I just wipe off the mold with a napkin and let them dry? Is there something I should put on them to keep the mold from spreading? Is it better to try to compress the books back into flatness while still in a humid environment, or let them dry out entirely first? Any other suggestions?
[ Some of these books I'll eventually replace. Some of them, I'm not sure if I'll find replacement copies. And there are too many of them for me to replace now, especially when I'm not living somewhere where I have space for them. ]
A few books got really damaged. But a larger number of books just got a bit of mold along one edge, the edge that was adjacent to the bottom side of the box. Most of these are still perfectly readable, a bit warped from dampness, and a bit discolored by mold along the edge to varying degrees.
Those of you who know how to deal with books: What's the best thing to do to these? Do I just wipe off the mold with a napkin and let them dry? Is there something I should put on them to keep the mold from spreading? Is it better to try to compress the books back into flatness while still in a humid environment, or let them dry out entirely first? Any other suggestions?
[ Some of these books I'll eventually replace. Some of them, I'm not sure if I'll find replacement copies. And there are too many of them for me to replace now, especially when I'm not living somewhere where I have space for them. ]
From the archive
Use mask and gloves when doing removal
I'd try the wipe down and then expose to sunlight (if possible to ensure the killing of the spores. Also if you can do the wiping down activties outside to reduce contamination, so much the better.
I do not think that you'll get the books back into their original shape, although you can try to weight them, but I've yet to see it work. Your first issue is to kill the mold.
Let me know how it goes
Re: From the archive
Re: From the archive