bravo788...
First off, if you have a large number of bills and other papers,
you may want to freeze them until you have time to clean them.
Freezing won't kill the mold, but will stop it from growing.
That tip, and others, are from MBK Consulting's page from
a workshop outline on how to remove mold from documents and
books. They provide consulting and workshops to libraries.
This one is on 'Disaster Prevention and Emergency Planning'
http://www.mbkcons.com/wkshp/disaster/disastermat.htm
If they are still wet or moist when you start to work with
them, you'll want to dry them thoroughly first.
This page from AntiqueWeb documents techniques used by the
Library of Congress. They recommend air drying outside, in
a covered space (to avoid direct sunlight) as the best way
to dry the documents and remove the odor. You can speed the
process with fans to circulate the air, but don't point the
fans directly at the documents. Also take note of precautions
regarding protecting yourself from mold, including the use
of protective clothing, gloves, and masks.
http://www.antiqueweb.com/articles/antiquebookspreservation.html#three
Once, and only when, the documents are thoroughly dry, use
the dry chemical sponges recommended in the first link to
safely remove the mold. These same sponges are used, dry,
to wipe soot off of smoke-damaged surfaces. You can buy
them at Jon-Don Inc.:
http://www.jon-doninc.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=afe6a84b9650069dc40946b2c34fbfd8&osCsid=afe6a84b9650069dc40946b2c34fbfd8&keywords=dry+chemical+sponge&x=0&y=0
If some of the bills seem too fragile to be wiped with the
sponges, you can also use a vacuum with the flow reduced
by placing cheesecloth between the hose and the brush
attachment. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter, or, ir you
must use an ordinary vacuum, do so outside.
See section III.B.2.c 'Cleaning Books and Paper' on this
page from the Solinet website:
http://www.solinet.net/preservation/leaflets/leaflets_templ.cfm?doc_id=122
Another exellent summary can be found on the Northeast
Document Conservation Center website, in an article
titled, 'EMERGENCY SALVAGE OF MOLDY BOOKS AND PAPER',
by Beth Lindblom Patkus:
http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf39.htm
I think that covers all the bases, but if you have any
questions, just post a Clarification...
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
allintext:mold books paper cleaning
://www.google.com/search?q=allintext%3Amold+books+paper+cleaning
"dry chemical sponge"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22dry+chemical+sponge%22 |
