Mustiness • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Mustiness
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g026r
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:22 am

Recently acquired a stack of books via eBay, and now looking for a bit of advice.

The books themselves are physically in great condition, obviously having been kept unused in storage somewhere, but there's definitely a mustiness to them. It's so strong that I'm pretty sure that something very much like "Oof!" left my mouth when I opened the box this morning (and some of these books are only a few years old :shock:

).

So, here's the question: any advice available on getting rid of the smell?

I seem to recall a suggestion given me once by a friend that involved a box of baking soda and a sealable container. Anyone had success with a similar method?

killjoy32
Grandstanding Collector

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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:30 am

i find that if you leave em in a nice clean fresh room for a while, it normally dissappates the smell some, but i doubt that will get rid of it totally.

why dont you try the method you mentioned with one of the books and see how it goes?

Al

Are we nearly there yet?

sauromatian
Sage Collector

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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:01 am

I have a similar problem, but not with a book I own. A few weeks ago, a local bookstore acquired a new volume for its large sci-fi books section [which includes RPGs].

I noticed the foul odor from a few shelves away, then happened to pick up the offending title- a nice illustrated hardback of fiction from early Omni magazines which I would have undoubtably purchased had it not smelled like a hog lagoon.

I've tried surrepitously misfiling it in another section, but dilligent store staff keep returning it to its appointed place. I'm too embarrassed to tell them about it. Incidently this is a store which usually throws out any books with mustiness, mold spots, or binding problems.

napoleonsdad
Prolific Collector

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Location: Boise, ID

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:21 pm

I've never tried this but I don't see why setting up a fan to blow gently on the module wouldn't help.

I did try a scented dryer sheet in a plastic bag with the module but you have to be careful or you will get a different odor. Kind of a flowery fresh scent. Anyway it was better than that horrible musty reek.

copycat
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:37 pm

I've got to remove the smoke scent from a couple of late arrivals as well, so a way to do that would be much appreciated. Damn smokers.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

g026r
Verbose Collector

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Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:42 pm

I'm going to try the baking soda method on one of the books. Expect an update no sooner than a week from now.

There's about a half dozen books that need de-scenting, so alternate methods are still appreciated.

benjoshua
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:45 pm

If the weather is nice and the wind not too stiff, I think placing the offending materials outside would be a good idea. It would have to be in the shade to prevent sun damage, but I think fresh air would do it a lot of good.

If those other methods don't work, and the smell was bad, I'd be tempted to try FeBreeze. I'd spray it on a cloth and wipe a thin coating over the offending pages. You'd have to be careful about water damage, and I'd test it on a small section first. If the smell is really bad, what have you got to lose?

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:03 pm

napoleonsdad wrote:I've never tried this but I don't see why setting up a fan to blow gently on the module wouldn't help.

I did try a scented dryer sheet in a plastic bag with the module but you have to be careful or you will get a different odor. Kind of a flowery fresh scent. Anyway it was better than that horrible musty reek.

I have used dryer sheets to get rid of cigarette smoke and it works pretty well. Your books might smell like "summer breeze" or "mountain rain" for a couple of months afterwards but eventually the smell dissipates so that you cant smell it unless you stick your nose right up against the paper.

I figure it is better to have flowerey smelling books that ones that smell like ass. :wink:

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

Beyondthebreach
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:11 pm

g026r wrote:
I seem to recall a suggestion given me once by a friend that involved a box of baking soda and a sealable container. Anyone had success with a similar method?

That's a good method, but make sure to not actually lay the books on the baking soda. Make a layer of baking soda on the bottom and then place the books on some sort of raised platform. Then seal the container.

"Gleemonex makes it feel like it's seventy-two degrees in your head... all... the... time! "

killjoy32
Grandstanding Collector

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Location: Wallasey, Merseyside, UK

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:10 pm

hehe i can see someones wife going mad here. imagine her coming home to find one of the rooms sealed off. she goes to cook something in the kitchen and cant find one container. going to investigate, she goes into the sealed off room to find the whole floorspace used up with all variety of containers, having used up all the baking soda to be found within 5 blocks

hehe funny thought

Are we nearly there yet?

Deadlord
Grandstanding Collector

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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:18 pm

My schnoz is on the large side, but I'm not much of a sniffer in that department. If something smells like smoke I can usually tell, but tromping through swamps half of the year inures me to "musty" smells.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

napoleonsdad
Prolific Collector

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Location: Boise, ID

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:42 am

hehe i can see someones wife going mad here. imagine her coming home to find one of the rooms sealed off. she goes to cook something in the kitchen and cant find one container. going to investigate, she goes into the sealed off room to find the whole floorspace used up with all variety of containers, having used up all the baking soda to be found within 5 blocks

hehe funny thought

Al

That is Funny :lol:

Artur
Active Collector

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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:19 am

For books with any kind of odor problem (mustiness, smoke odor, etc.), I have used a coffee filter folded in half, filled with baking soda, taped shut, and placed within the book in a few places. Usually the odor is gone or substantially reduced within a week.

silver_beetle
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:48 pm

Beyondthebreach wrote:
That's a good method, but make sure to not actually lay the books on the baking soda. Make a layer of baking soda on the bottom and then place the books on some sort of raised platform. Then seal the container.

Hmmm. I would think sprinkling a bit between each page would be quite effective, plus it would help neutralize the acid content in the paper. Why wouldn't you want to do this?

"We were put on this Earth to fart around."
- Kurt Vonnegut

Beyondthebreach
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:07 pm

silver_beetle wrote:
Hmmm. I would think sprinkling a bit between each page would be quite effective, plus it would help neutralize the acid content in the paper. Why wouldn't you want to do this?

Ummm . . . I don't know . . .

I did some research online about removing musty odors from old books and several sites/people recommended doing it this way . . . so, I guess I am just taking the words of others without actually trying it myself.

"Gleemonex makes it feel like it's seventy-two degrees in your head... all... the... time! "

silver_beetle
Prolific Collector

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Location: Cleveland, OH

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:07 pm

Beyondthebreach wrote:
Ummm . . . I don't know . . . I did some research online about removing musty odors from old books and several sites/people recommended doing it this way . . . so, I guess I am just taking the words of others without actually trying it myself.

I guess I was wondering if the baking soda would damage the paper at all if it was in direct contact. The one problem I see is that you'd have a bunch of powder in your books and people might think you were a cokehead! :lol:

"We were put on this Earth to fart around."
- Kurt Vonnegut

chalk_outline
** Banned **

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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:30 pm

Leave them out in the sun on a nice clear day; the wind and UV should help out.

Deadlord
Grandstanding Collector

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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:02 pm

Yeah, the UV will get rid of all that icky coloration on the pictures. Who wants nicely colored pics anyways?

.........Who's that trip-trapping on my bridge................

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

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