Wanderings

Anything you dream is fiction,
and anything you accomplish is science,
the whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction.
- Ray Bradbury
September 3rd, 2009

Removing Mildew on Books

My brother discovered a nice cache of Science Fiction books at a garage sale. The books have “from the library of Deborah Vick” stickers and include 40 or 50 books from the Science Fiction Book club from the 70s and 80s. These are almost always good reads. There are also two boxes of paperbacks and about three years worth of Analogs.

The books, however, stink of mildew. I am reading A. E. Van Vogt’s Slan and it smells so bad that I want to gag.

I did some research today and there are a different ways to cure this, but I am not sure what will work.

One thing that I will try is Kitty Litter, of which I have an abundance. You are supposed to put books in a plastic sealed box with litter on the bottom, some paper in between and the books, open on top. Supposedly after three days the smell will be gone.

One source recommends using cedar shavings of the kind used for small animals the same way, but care must be taken that the shavings don’t touch the books because they contain oil that wills stain the books.

I also ordered Star-Brite Mildew COntrol packets. These are packets of Chlorine Dioxide that release a small amount of chlorine gas. These are sold for boats and are supposed to stop mildew dead. They are touted to eliminate pet odors, so I am will have a use for them if they don’t work with the books. Erica’s Jeep has some mildew so I might hang a packet in there.

I am looking for the packets of crystal deodorizer that the county uses in their sewage plants to control odors. They let me take one once and it worked well in my 1989 Chevy truck that had an animal living in it, but that was many years ago. Luckily, I have not had to stop by sewer plants since then.

I want to read these books so I will will let you know how these work.

See also:

First Try

Second Try