My books are rotten

December 13, 2006 2:11 PM

Help! My books are rotten - as in they're covered in mould! Suggestions on anything I can do to save them most welcome...

A bit of background: I live in a ground floor flat. There's a large alcove in one corner of the lounge where I have my bookshelves. I've got too many books and started piling them on the floor underneath the shelving unit. Tonight, I needed to put in an extension cable for my Christmas tree lights, so moved the big piles of books for the first time in a while... and I found the floor is damp and the books are too, along with having a fair amount of colourful green mould on their pages. Can I save them or do I have to throw them? The floor is wooden, so I've pulled all the stuff out and scrubbed it with bleach. The alcove wall is dry, so I'm not really sure where the damp/mould is coming from... Any suggestions welcome!

posted by Sifter to home & garden (11 answers total)

Put them in a zip lock bag and place them in the freezer
posted by iphog at 2:16 PM on December 13, 2006

if you have a lot of books: some dry cleaners have freeze-dry chambers for dealing with cloth mold. that will accomplish the same thing as putting them in your own freezer, but quicker and you don't have to remove your ice cube trays.

i used to work in antiquarian bookstore and we'd send off newly acquired lots of books to the local dry cleaner if they were moldy. you may have to shop around for a cleaner who will do you a favor, or you could ask local used book shops if they know of anyone who will do this.

if it was just one or two books we were trying to save, we'd dust every few pages with baby powder and let it sit for a week. you run the risk of getting powder in the spines, though, which will break them.
posted by sonofslim at 2:24 PM on December 13, 2006

actually, now that i think about it: the baby powder may have been for damp books, to dry them out before they got moldy. we didn't do it that often, it wouldn't be my 1st recommendation.
posted by sonofslim at 2:28 PM on December 13, 2006

The freezer will not "fix" the books, but if it is done soon after the items are wet, it will prohibit insect infestation or the growth of mold. Freezing buys you time to decide the best course of action for dealing with damaged items.
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:28 PM on December 13, 2006

Bob Mould?

The librarian answer is to buy new books. Moldy books don't get fixed or better, and they're only worth having if they're irreplacable.
posted by klangklangston at 2:31 PM on December 13, 2006

I've heard some success (and some failure) stories in microwaving them.
posted by icontemplate at 2:50 PM on December 13, 2006

I know of a library that de-moulded a whole bunch of books. If you like, email me and I'll get you their contact info. Also, I'm ninety percent sure I remember this question coming up on AskMe before, but I can't seem to find it now.
posted by Clay201 at 7:19 PM on December 13, 2006

You may find some useful info here.
posted by hot soup girl at 7:54 PM on December 13, 2006

Some perhaps-useful links:

Library Preservation.org tutorial on removing mold; Invasion of the giant mold spore: how to prevent mold and restore moldy books(check out section III); and the romantically-named MOLD which provides a whole page of info on mold in books/printed matter and compares the main methods for removal.
posted by holyrood at 9:12 PM on December 13, 2006

holyrood's second link comes up blank for me, but here's the page it refers to. Section III-B has lots of directly relevant info.

Dry, inactive mold can often simply be brushed off, but you've got the wet, active kind, so you'll have to carefully dry the books first. I've seen fairly damp books salvaged, but it takes time and space, and may not be worth it. If the books aren't rare, I'd consider tossing the worst of them and replacing them with other copies. But if some have just a bit of dampness/mold, you can spread them out and dry them in front of a fan, then once they're completely dry just clean the covers (dry mold will often come off with a brush), then flatten them with heavy weight (like, say, more books :).

I'm not really sure where the damp/mould is coming from...

Find out - seriously - and fix the problem, or you'll be dealing with moldy books again very soon.

(Here's another good take on air-drying wet books:

Small numbers of wet books can be air-dried. The books should be stood up, fanned open, alternating spine to fore edge, with sturdy bookends at each end to prevent them from falling over like dominoes. Use fans to circulate the air and increase evaporation. Drop the room temperature as low as practical to discourage mold and use dehumidifiers or air conditioners to reduce the humidity. Books are dry when they feel warm to the touch. Once dry, place them flat with a weight on top to minimize warping. Most books air dry satisfactorily although some residual staining and distortion is to be expected. Unfortunately clay-coated (glossy) paper will stick together irreversibly unless the pages are separated while the book is still wet. Interleave every wet page with absorbent paper; repeat the process (exchanging the wet paper for dry) until the pages no longer cling to each other. Stand the book up and fan it open to finish drying completely.)
posted by mediareport at 10:10 PM on December 13, 2006

Thanks for the tips everybody! :)
posted by Sifter at 3:31 AM on December 14, 2006