deodorizing mould smell

Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.

We don't have time to interleave sheets of stuff. This is for books
worth only a few pounds, which only merit a few minutes' working over.
(If it takes an hour to treat, it better be a Ulysses first or it gets
pulped). And we have crap ventilation. So the answer pretty much has
to be non-toxic, water-soluble or powder, and fit in a spray bottle or
dust puffer.

For a comparison, you can get "urine neutralizer" from industrial
cleaning supplies places. Old folks' homes get through gallons of
it every year. It works brilliantly.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

1. Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.

From the FAQs:

4.10 How Do I Get Rid of That "Musty Smell"?
Try enclosing in plastic bag after dusting with baking soda liberally.
[Jack Evans]
Someone claimed that putting the book in an enclosed bag with kitty
litter helps. Make sure the stuff doesn't touch the book, and also make
sure it's not been used. I've tried pointing an electric fan at the
book(s) for about a week (this was for smoke smell), and it worked
fairly well. [Mike Berro]
When you smell a "musty" or "mildewy" type odor, you are quite often
reacting to mold spores which have left the book and are floating in
the air. This is a situation where using a fan could cause a problem.
Blowing the mold spores around could cause them to land on other items,
such as books, and spread the problem...especially if you were using
the fan in a closed environment. [Ken Kapson]
The fan also wouldn't treat the mold problem on the infected book
itself. At best, it would dry up any moisture which is present and stop
the mold from producing futher spores. But desiccation alone will not
kill the mold. It will become inactive. However, once moisture becomes
present again, the mold will reactivate itself (hardy little buggers,
aren't they?). [Ken Kapson]
One further comment, which may be of interest. The smell receptors in
your nose will become "fatigued" after being exposed to an odor for a
period of time. This means that you will stop noticing the smell. So,
this means that if you go to someone's musty basement and start looking
at their books, eventually you won't notice the smell that could be
present in some of the individual items. But later on, after you've
brought your new purchases home and your smell receptors have returned
to normal, you'll once again be able to smell the mold on the books
(which you didn't notice at the time you bought them). [Ken Kapson]
What I find works fairly well (I have allergies too) is to take a
newspaper (one that is a couple weeks old - where the print doesn't
come off.) Tear it in pieces to fit inside the book. Put the book away
for a couple weeks. Most of the smell would be gone. Lysol is very good
for killing mold spores (my primary allergy). You can take a paper
towel and spray it with lysol and enclose it in a large plasic bag with
the book for a couple days. I keep a box (separate from all my other
books) that is just for sick books. I call it my book hospital. This is
where I keep all my books until they are well enough to join me.
I accomplish this with my "detox chamber." Here's how I make mine: 1. I
use a large box for the outside. In my case this box sits outdoors
under a carport roof. 2. At the bottom of the box I place the
"smell-soaker-upper" (SSU ?) - which at various times has been Lysol,
baking soda and kitty litter. (I'm open for any more suggestions). BTW,
in my experience, Lysol works the fastest but to a small extent trades
one odor for another. Baking soda and kitty litter are the best. I
place a bowl at the bottom and put the SSU in that. 3. Over this I
invert a wire basket (milk crate). This covers the SSU and decreases
the chance of getting it on the books. 4. On top of the wire crate I
place clean paper and set the books on top. Depending on the book, it
might be lying flat or standing erect with pages splayed open. (There's
always the danger of curious dogs or teenagers tipping over the whole
contraption !!) 5. I go away and forget about it for a while. This
tends to run anywhere from weeks to months. [Bill and Barb Wright]

4.11 How Do I Get Rid Of Unwanted Odors?
Absorene: Seriously, folks, the best method of removing cigarette smell
from books is Absorene paper and book cleaner. It's a pink clay that
you apply like a sponge to the front and back of books. It absorbs the
smell. On the ends of the books, apply very gently. The stuff is magic!
You can order it through the Brodart catalog, or write to the Absorene
MFG Co. at 1609 N. 14th St., St Louis, MO 63106 USA. Terrific stuff.
Two cans will last all year! [Larry Burdick]
Activated Charcoal: I think charcoal or baking soda or any other odor
absorber would also work. [Chris Volk/Shep Iiams]
Aftershave Lotion: Putting a book in an airtight container with
aftershave lotion works. Best if the book is fanned open, and of course
kept from getting the liquid lotion on the book. Moisten some kind of
absorbent material in the bottom of the box with the book above it. The
after shave lotion method is used by car dealers to freshen up a smelly
car. They spray or put moistened rags in the car and keep it closed up
for several days. (things you didn't need to know). []
Baking Soda or Talc: Baking powder absorbs both moisture and odors, but
the process is tedious and messy and not guaranteed. Interleaving with
powdered paper takes forever, so I reserve it for those [books] really
worth reviving. I have used rice paper dredged in baking soda or
unscented talc. There probably is some pre-powdered paper on the
market. I've used both baking powder and baking soda. The powder is
ground finer and so is more absorbent and harder to brush off. []
Baking Soda or Talc: One of the ideas was to put said smelly book in a
plastic baggie with baking soda in the bottom. You should also put a
layer of paper between the book and soda so there was no direct
contact. I've gone the soda route and it works reasonably well - I've
let the book "sit in it" for around two weeks. [Nate's Books ]
Carpet Deodorizer: I'm not sure if this would work for smoke but we use
carpet deodorizer for books that smell musty or mildue. Might want to
try it. [Amy ]
Carpet Deodorizer: Carpet de-odouriser non coloured-non scented
variety. Use one called 'Neutradol' if you can get it. It is a white
powder a bit like talc. Dust every page and the cover with it, then
wrap it up for about two weeks (use a polyethelene freezer bag). The
powder will come off easily with a small vacuum cleaner such as a Dust
Buster, or brushing with a soft shaving brush. Hey presto, a smell-free
book. [Broder's Books ]
Kitty Litter: Recently we purchased a math library which, while it had
no apparent mildew, had that telltail odor. In addition, a couple of
the volumes had "philandering pussy cat" musk about them. We plunged
the books into the middle of a box of unscented clay clumping kitty
litter, having first very lightly "misted" them with lysol. We held the
lysol can approximately 4' above the books, and gave a very light psst!
on the spray nozzle, letting the fine mist drift over them. After a
week we pulled the books out of the box of kitty litter and behold,
they no longer smelled. [Bree Books ]
Cedar Chips: Cedar chips have done wonders for me with all kinds of
odors. You get a bag at a pet store, then put the books and a load of
cedar chips in a plastic garbage bag or sealed carton for a period of
time. The most difficult to deodorize are art books on coated papers.
How long it takes depends on the odor, but the cedar chips leave no
odor. [Evert Volkersz ]
Coffee Grounds: Some booksellers have had luck with removing mold/must
smell from old paperbacks by placing them in a plastic bag, and placing
an open container of coffee grounds in the bag, and then leaving for a
week or so (seems to help if placed in a warm environment). The mold
smell disappears, and the books, if aired for a couple of days before
being placed on the shelfs, lose the coffee smell. Both used and
un-used coffee grounds are said to work. Haven't heard if this works
with hardcovers or other items. [John F. Kuenzig ]
Diss: Someone also suggested the use of diss... you know - that stuff
they store with film that absorbes moisture. [Nate's Books ]
Fabric Softener Sheets: I got this suggestion from someone on AOL last
year. Tried it with an ARC of Jurassic Park which must have lived its
whole life in the smoking lounge...It pretty much worked, might have
worked better if I'd been more diligent or used more strips... The
suggestion is to take one or two of those dryer fabric softener sheets
(I use Bounce), cut them into a few lengthwise strips and place the
strips here and there inside the book. Then seal the book up in a
plastic bag, strips and all, and wait for some period of time which I
don't remember (I left my copy sitting around for months, but that
wasn't really on purpose). Probably a week or so. And no, I have no
idea whether this would be chemically bad for the book's paper;
certainly my ARC wasn't any the worse for the treatment, that I noticed
anyway. [Suzanne Saunders ]
White Vinegar: My pet way of getting rid of odors in books is thus: Put
the book on thread spools [or something similar] in the microwave oven.
Use another object to prop open the topside cover. DO NOT TURN ON THE
OVEN!!! Place a saucer of white vinegar in the oven, and let it set
overnight. One night usually takes care of it. The book may smell like
vinegar for a few hours, but then is odor free. [Diane Johnson ]
Ozone: At Wells Books, we have converted an unused closet into an ozone
chamber. Books from the homes of smokers or from smoke damage in house
fires go into this "chamber" with our ozone machine going for a two
hour session. This will remove almost all the smoke smell (also most
mildew smell). This is the method used by the Royal B.C. Museum and by
many companies specializing in insurance claims. We first started this
when one of our stores had a serious fire. The ozone treatment if done
many times over the life of a book might damage the make up of the
paper. But then, badly smoked books would have a shorter life time
anyway. What smell isn't removed can be wiped off with a treated sponge
from a janitor supply store (again the type of thing used by the folks
who clean up after house fires). We not only clean our own books, we
would also provide a service to our customers on Vancouver Island.
[Wells Books ]

http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/rcb/#34

I can't vouch for all the above, but I've had good results with baking
soda and kitty litter.

John
http://rarebooksinjapan.org

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...


Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.

We don't have time to interleave sheets of stuff. This is for books
worth only a few pounds, which only merit a few minutes' working over.
(If it takes an hour to treat, it better be a Ulysses first or it gets
pulped). And we have crap ventilation. So the answer pretty much has
to be non-toxic, water-soluble or powder, and fit in a spray bottle or
dust puffer.

For a comparison, you can get "urine neutralizer" from industrial
cleaning supplies places. Old folks' homes get through gallons of
it every year. It works brilliantly.

....

That stuff works on Usenet posts as well.

And so given that you're located in Scotland, I can only suggest store
your books in the kitchen. Where the smell of the chip fat will soon
mask any musty odours.


michael adams

....



============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...


Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.

We don't have time to interleave sheets of stuff. This is for books
worth only a few pounds, which only merit a few minutes' working over.
(If it takes an hour to treat, it better be a Ulysses first or it gets
pulped). And we have crap ventilation. So the answer pretty much has
to be non-toxic, water-soluble or powder, and fit in a spray bottle or
dust puffer.

For a comparison, you can get "urine neutralizer" from industrial
cleaning supplies places. Old folks' homes get through gallons of
it every year. It works brilliantly.

....

That stuff works on Usenet posts as well.

And so given that you're located in Scotland, I can only suggest that
you store your books in the kitchen. Where the smell of the chip fat will
soon mask any musty odours.


michael adams

....



============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

Al Roy wrote:

What did work though was to slowly leaf through the book,
one page at a time, on a bright sunny day. I figured the sunlight
would kill the spores. It reduced the smell considerably. I then
left the book fanned out to air out. After a few weeks the smell
was completely gone.

This is certainly a good idea, and there should be something in the
FAQs about it. I have got good results from sunshine (in moderate
amounts; too much will cause fading) and fresh air. Putting a musty
book out in the sunshine on a breezy day can work wonders.

Killing spores is another matter, though. Fungal spores may lie dormant
for years and are almost impossible to kill. What's more, most of the
methods available - unless applied professionally - are almost as
likely to kill you as to kill the spores in your books!

The best you can hope for, really, is to get rid of the smell and keep
the books in an environment which will prevent spores from spreading.

There are really several similar but different things; stains of
various kinds, foxing (which is basically a chemical reaction), musty
smells (which may or may not indicate the presence of actual spores)
and mould (i.e., spores) all require different treatment. Correctly
identifying the problem is the first step towards handling it
successfully.

Anyway, here is an old posting of mine that cites some well-informed
sources on the subject of fungal spores: http://tinyurl.com/8qv88

By the way, what's happened to the wits who always like to advise
people with such enquiries to smother their books in petroleum jelly or
whatever? Surely they can't all be taking a break from rcb at once!

John
http://rarebooksinjapan.org

Hello, Jack Campin - bogus address !
You wrote:

Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.

We don't have time to interleave sheets of stuff. This is for books
worth only a few pounds, which only merit a few minutes' working over.

I had this problem recently. I tried the baking-soda-and-sealed-bag trick
with no sucess. What did work though was to slowly leaf through the book,
one page at a time, on a bright sunny day. I figured the sunlight would
kill the spores. It reduced the smell considerably. I then left the book
fanned out to air out. After a few weeks the smell was completely gone.

--
See ya ...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Alan Roy
CNA #17134 eBay: al-roy

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

on 30 Oct 2005 10:30:49 -0800, John R. Yamamoto-Wilson stated:

[killing mould]
By the way, what's happened to the wits who always like to advise
people with such enquiries to smother their books in petroleum jelly or
whatever? Surely they can't all be taking a break from rcb at once!

Oh I say! That would really work!


-Allison
"The remedy worked, Doctor. The patient is dead, but
the remedy was remarkably effective."

Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old
books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.
From the FAQs:

Which don't address the question I had. I was asking about
cosmetics, not conservation. Nothing there will work for us.

We're a charity shop, we sell about 1000 books a week, none of
them over the Internet, and hence our prices are a fraction of the
EBay or AbeBooks ones. Unless we know for sure that we are going
to get a LOT of money for an item, we couldn't do any of those.
Ten minutes maximum processing time, no storage space for individual
boxes of kitty litter or ozone. We expect to shift our stock fast;
it's up to the purchaser to do any conservation work, as the books
don't have time to deteriorate further while we've got them. What
we need is to stop the things making our customers want to puke
when they walk in the door, and to be able to do it in five minutes
while sitting at a desk. No can do, we pulp it.

Some sort of spray deodorant is the only reasonable solution; it
looks like nobody here knows of an appropriate one so I'll have
to experiment.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...

We're a charity shop, we sell about 1000 books a week, none of
them over the Internet, and hence our prices are a fraction of the
EBay or AbeBooks ones. Unless we know for sure that we are going
to get a LOT of money for an item, we couldn't do any of those.

Since you're a charity/thrift shop, put them out "as is" and let the
buyer take care of the problem. Anything you do that raises
expenses, will eat into your meager profits.

Kris

In rec.collecting.books, on Wed, 02 Nov 2005 01:24:12 +0000, Jack
Campin - bogus address wrote about
deodorizing mould smell:

Is there a product that neutralizes the musty smell of some old
books?
I'm not thinking of books with visible mould, just the smell of it.
From the FAQs:

Which don't address the question I had. I was asking about
cosmetics, not conservation. Nothing there will work for us.

I work in a thrift stare also. One of the people who works with books
recommends this method to remove odors. Place the book in the
microwave and nuke it about 10 seconds at a time until the smell is
gone. I can't vouch for this as I have not tried it personally.

Joan