Foodsafe after mildew damage?

April 14, 2008 3:26 PM

Can I adequately clean a mildewed bookshelf for food storage?

So, I'm moving house, and my current house has a moisture problem, such that over five years, there's been slowly encroaching mildew on the inside of the shadiest wall of the house, which is cinderblock and partially underground (the house is built into a hillside). I've had a large oak bookcase against this wall all this time, but have cleaned it periodically of thin greenish dusty film I've taken to be mildew. The back of the shelf was the worst hit; most of the books in have no noticeable damage whatsoever.

Now, measurements indicate that the small alcove off our new kitchen which we'd like to use as a pantry would be the best home for this shelf. The shelf actually also has some ironic sentimental value, such that I'd like to either keep it or burn it, because it was the big-deal fancy pants bookshelf with the leather bound books my stepdad bought for all his phony prestige before he wound up in jail for embezzlement and blah blah blah. My heirlooms are hollow and crappy, in other words. Also, I'm a cookies-off-the-floor eater and cheap, to boot. I'd rather not waste furniture if it's useful.

Is a thorough bleach cleaner treatment and a move to a drier climate enough to make a mildewy oak shelf safe for food storage? Is this likely to be mildew, or some other more dangerous substance?

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur to home & garden (9 comments total)

Can you get it outside for a day?

A vinegar or bleach (not both) diluted with water and then dried in the sunshine on a warm day should get any mildew remains far away.
posted by Gucky at 3:30 PM on April 14

I would recommend some sort of sealant if you're worried about it. The problem with drying it out is that the wood will warp and might crack, but at the same time as long as it is wet you may have mildew. Ideally, you could seal it and preserve the moisture content of the wood while isolating any possible remaining mildew. What's the finish on it currently?
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 3:39 PM on April 14

It's lacquered but not to a gloss. The mildew follows grain patterns, but when I wiped it down with bleach cleaner, eventually the residue on my rag changed from greenish gray to golden, so I stopped, not wanting to strip it.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:43 PM on April 14

I think it depends a lot on what you're trying to store there. For bottles and cans, it isn't really very critical, is it? It may smell weird, but it isn't going to do anything to the food inside the packages.
posted by Class Goat at 4:24 PM on April 14

A local cabinetmaker or woodworker would probably be able to give you an idea of what sort of finish you could apply over the lacquer. Unfortunately, since it is already lacquered, you're very limited in what the solvent base of the finish could be.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:32 PM on April 14

If you can leave it out in the sun for a day, and the bookcase will have circulation around the back in it's new home, you'll probably be OK. Use vinegar in the future to clean off mildew- bleach damages the same fibers the mildew breaks down. You're just making it easier for the mildew to do more damage when you use bleach.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:17 PM on April 14

Diluted bleach should do the job. I disinfect my wood cutting boards with a 10% bleach solution, letting it sit for half an hour. Rinse well after that.
posted by francesca too at 5:21 PM on April 14

I have relacquered a shelf, but before I coated the whole thing I lightly sanded then tested the new lacquer on an out of sight bit. It was okay, so I did the whole thing, no problems.

If I was using it for food storage I would want it to be sealed up, as much to protect the wood from oils and spills as to protect the food from anything in the wood.
posted by tomble at 8:31 PM on April 14

Spray/wipe bleach:water 1:3 solution; sit in sunshine 24 hours. Wipe w/ vinegar:water 1:3 solution to neutralize. Allow to dry. Revive the finish with boiled linseed oil:turpentine 1:1 rubbed on periodically. I wouldn't be too concerned about storing packaged food; I'd worry more about the health hazard of books that may have some mold in them, and any other mold issues on that wall.
posted by theora55 at 8:02 AM on April 15