Moldy passport pages

July 9, 2012 1:35 PM

How to keep my passport (US) pages from getting moldy?

A little over a year ago, I got my US passport renewed, and promptly placed it in my safe that holds important paperwork (I haven't carried it or used it yet). I just checked it yesterday, and the pages are covered with a mold of some sort: orange & fuzzy, on the edges as well as on the pages.

I had it stored in a ziplock bag with white rice to absorb moisture, but I guess it didn't do the trick. Meanwhile, my old passport (similarly stored but in a separate bag) hadn't grown anything on it.

Any suggestions to prevent this mold growth again?

posted by Pocahontas to Travel & Transportation (16 answers total)

if the passport is growing mold, what do the other important papers look like ? Is it humidity related ? (where's the safe stored, how air tight, what else is in it, etc)

If it's humidity related, there are various cans of drying agents that could be placed in your safe. (eg Sillica gel, etc)
posted by k5.user at 1:38 PM on July 9, 2012

This is so bizarre to me. Where are you keeping it? What's the climate like where you live?

I used to be an immigration paralegal and now am doing a bit of HR stuff and have handled literally hundreds of passports (all in various stages of grossness), and I have never, ever seen the pages mold.

Maybe if you kept them in a breathable cotton bag with rice so that any moisture can escape?

So weird...so gross. I don't know what to tell you.
posted by phunniemee at 1:39 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Was the passport the only thing stored in this bag of rice? (I do not understand why you would do this in the first place unless you have extreme dampness issues in your home, tbh.) I'm assuming it was something icky in the bag of rice.
posted by elizardbits at 1:42 PM on July 9, 2012 [4 favorites]

I store my passport in a drawer. It's never gotten moldy. I live in a cool, fairly humid city with no central air or heat in the flat.

If it has to live in this safe, and nothing else in the safe has shown signs of mold, then it was probably some combination of something weird with the rice and the bag. In which case, just let it live naked in the safe. Or you could get those little bags of dessicant that often come with new shoes and stuff.
posted by rtha at 1:49 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Must you keep it in a safe? Put it in a cabinet or on a table or shelf at home. A passport has no monetary value save for the annoying fee of purchasing a replacement one if it's lost or damaged. I've been carrying mine overseas in a messenger bag for a year. Before that it spent four years in a dorm room file cabinet.
posted by pdq at 1:55 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've never heard of anything like this. Is there any way you could post a picture of the mold?

Maybe try some of those Silica Gel Dry-Packs that get packaged with food/shoes/etc? Available at Amazon (as well as local hardware stores I'm sure).
posted by moxiequz at 1:57 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have never heard of storing paperwork in rice and I've never heard of passports growing mold, so I concur with the others that the rice is contributing to the mold growth.
posted by valeries at 2:01 PM on July 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Any time I've been in the rain forest, I keep my passport in a ziploc bag with some silica gel. I've escaped mold free.
posted by ChuraChura at 2:09 PM on July 9, 2012

It's possible that your (dry) rice had some moisture/spores. I think if I were hoping to avoid mold on an object I would also avoid storing it in a bag of food.
posted by two lights above the sea at 2:43 PM on July 9, 2012 [4 favorites]

Whenever I travel to humid places I also keep my passport in a ziplock. Never a problem.
posted by arnicae at 2:47 PM on July 9, 2012

Best answer: I live in a stupidly humid jungle and I have a box of my important stuff that gets all of the desiccant packs that come in stuff I order.

DO NOT EAT.
posted by kamikazegopher at 2:47 PM on July 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

I've kept my passport in a safe, a drawer and various other spots in multiple homes, and have never seen this happen. Have you had your home checked for mold?
posted by chundo at 2:57 PM on July 9, 2012

Dry out the existing mold as much as possible, then remove it with a soft brush as discussed here. I would go on to brush the passport very lightly with a weak bleach solution (1 part bleach to 6 parts water) because your goal isn't long-term conservation (when I learned book conservation twenty years ago, we were still taught to use bleach; I know why people don't use it to conserve library collections anymore, but a weak bleach solution won't hurt your passport that you need to keep for a maximum of ten years, right?)

Then get silica dessicants instead of relying on rice to protect your vulnerable materials from humidity.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:13 PM on July 9, 2012

Where I live, even stuff in ziplock bags mold. Even toothbrushes. Don't ask me how I know.
posted by kamikazegopher at 3:14 PM on July 9, 2012

Mine molded, too, when it was in a fireproof safe. I now just keep it in a drawer and it's fine.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:51 PM on July 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Silica gel does deactivate after a wile. You can regenerate them by heating in your oven at about 250F for a few hours.
posted by bonehead at 7:35 PM on July 9, 2012