I have about 50 books with varying degrees of damage from being in storage. They are in the house now, which presumably keeps the mildew from getting any worse, but what is my best bet for restoring them? I believe the recommended treatment is to wipe them with soapy water. Is there anything more I can do? Also what about the smell? I have no sense of smell myself, so it’s nothing to me, but I suppose I should try not to stink up the house.
Our house has a lot of gingerbread and lots of trees around it. The mildew would get so bad, sometimes it looked like we’d painted the house green. Then I found some mildew cleaner at Kroger’s and it got rid of the mildew and has prevented it from returning for over a year. There is a “name brand” that makes it and then Kroger’s has their own brand which is almost 1/2 the price. It is called Mildew Cleaner, no fancy name or claim. Get a spray bottle and try it. If it doesn’t work on your books, I’m sure you have some mildew somewhere that it will get rid of in a hurry.
I asked my b/f about this, removing mold from books is something that falls under his job description, whee! His answer, “Technically you can’t, it would be considered contaminated and unfixable for insurance purposes.” He did go on to say that sometimes if the book(s) is an expensive one, and they go through the adjuster, they will then go ahead and try to fix it provided the mildew is not too progressed. Their secret treatment? Rubbing alcohol with a q-tip or a standard pencil eraser. The eraser comes in, when alcohol causes the ink to run, so it’s a good idea to test a small area first.
I did find a site with the following information. Under section IV Concluding Recommendations:
I do note it says ethanol, rather than isopropyl, whatever you decide I wish you good luck!
Thanks guys! I appreciate your help.
Take the books outside and brush off as much as you can. Put them in a plastic garbage bag with some zeolite. This is a marvelous powdered mineral that absorbs molds and smells. You can get it at a hardware or pet store. Keep them in the bag for a week. Shake it up every once in a while.
Ah, that sounds good. A bit less work-intensive, at least.