I just inherited a bunch of old photos and letters. The issue is that at one point, some of them got wet, and moldy. They were moved to a dry location, and gave been stored for years.
How (if it’s possible) can I clean these items?
Are they stuck together? If not, before trying anything I’d scan them so you have some images that might later be re-touched where mold and dirt is found.
I used to develop and print my own photos so I think the following should work with the photos. Experiment first with least important photos. Soak them in plain room temperature water and see if you can gently brush mold and dirt off the surface. Change water as needed to keep it all clean. A large flat bottom tub is best. A bathtub should work. Do not soak for more than an hour. Place a large towel on a flat surface (table). Place photos face down on the towel (one layer only) and then place another towel on top of the photos and let dry. Depending on temperature and humidity, it should take about one day to dry. If the photos had a glossy surface finish they will now have a semi-glossy finish. I have no idea what to do with letters.
Someone might come along with a better idea.
You’re going to want to be very careful not to inhale any dust from the moldy ones - many types of household mold can cause terrible lung diseases and such. That aside, you will probably want to brush them off well with a soft brush (a top-quality 2-inch paintbrush will probably do well, although a big camel-hair artist’s brush might be more gentle.
You may be better off putting them under glass and using a document-photo setup to image them at high resolution for digital viewing and cleanup, and pack away the originals safely. Truly cleaning and stabilizing them against continuing damage may be too costly and involved.
Here’s a page from the Smithsonian Institution with links to more detailed pages.
And here are some links to articles by FujiFilm about cleaning photos.
–Mark