# Mildew on my books!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 18, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876 "2004-10-18T19:09:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/1 "2004-10-18T19:09:12Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/2 "2004-10-18T20:41:24Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/3 "2004-10-18T21:49:00Z")
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](http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/nyberg/spore.html) with the following information. Under section IV Concluding Recommendations:
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Clean: Vacuum with wipe visible mold from books or papers with a clean dry rag or a soft brush; bookbindings can be wiped with ethanol or vacuumed with a wet/dry vacuum cleaner; clean shelves, walls, floors, air conditioning heat-exchange coils, air vents, etc. with Lysol, Chlorox, X-14, or other mold-killing solutions; if you are dealing with a small quantity of books, you can set them out in the sun to dry out, otherwise use fans following the ethanol/vacuum cleaning.
I do note it says ethanol, rather than isopropyl, whatever you decide I wish you good luck!
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/4 "2004-10-19T12:04:15Z")
Thanks guys! I appreciate your help.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/5 "2004-10-19T13:26:11Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mildew-on-my-books/269876/6 "2004-10-19T14:16:32Z")
Ah, that sounds good. A bit less work-intensive, at least.