What's the best way to clean mold off of books? My apartment has been infested with mold and it's growing on several of my books.
Mold
What's the best way to clean mold off of books? My apartment has been infested with mold and it's growing on several of my books.
Google:
>What's the best way to clean mold off of books?
Not Literature, gay
What this anon said...Google it yourself.
Spoiler alert: it's very difficult to kill book mold without destroying the book.
They don't have good advice.
It doesn't and besides risks ruining the book.
Day late and a dollar short.
You're only removing the surface and alcohol damages the book.
There's one way to get rid of the mold.
1. Seal book in a vaccum sealed bag. Put it in 150 degree Fahrenheit water bath using a sous vide. Let book rest in there for 24 to 48 hours. This will kill off all the mold.
2. Afterward get an ozone generator. Do not breath the fumes it's toxic. This will oxidize the dead mold after the above.
3. UVC light will further sterilize. Do this to the covers of all the books.
This is the only way of demolding books. You can have the moldiest mildewiest book with bugs and worms in it and it will get rid of it without damage.
>alcohol damages the book
>use an ozone generator, UVC light
Well make up your mind, buddy. UVC damages a lot of stuff. I purchased one such UV lamp a couple of years ago. These lamps produce ozone as a byproduct (and it stinks). The problem is that it damages everything and also that it doesn't do a good job at sanitizing the room when there are many nooks and crannies filled with books that won't be properly exposed to the UV rays. I have far fewer qualms about wiping some books down with alcohol than with flooding my room with UV light. Also, the ozone produced by the lamp (I only left the lamp on for 30 minutes, by the way), leaked through the room even though I kept the door shut the whole time. I then opened the window in the room, but the smell lingered for over a week and permeated the rest of the basement and even gave off some faint odour on the ground floor. Again, this was while keeping the door shut constantly.
baking soda kills mold.
buy a dehumidifier
Citation needed.
Anyway, it depends entirely on the kind of mould. I currently have a white mould problem on some books in my basement.
My solution last time I tried to salvage some of these mouldy books: wipe off all the visible mould with a paper towel, then wipe the book down again with a cloth soaked in ethanol or a disinfectant wipe. The latter might be a safer bet as the alcohol (solvent) could damage the book. This honestly works quite well. The problem is it's tedious and time consuming if you have a whole bookcase of mouldy books. Luckily the mould appears only to attack the surface of the book and not the pages inside.
Poor people should not be allowed to own physical books
control the humidity in your room
become one with the mold
Hydrogen Peroxide topically.
Then you should run a H202 humidifier with the pages spread out as much as possible for a few hours in the room.
This will also cure any lung or nasal infection you have.
Mold digs in to books so even while you kill the surface mold, it just corrupts the inside and becomes more pervasive over time. Treat all non porous surfaces with bleach (sealed and smooth materials, tile, glass, plastic, metal) and replace all porous surfaces (paper, wood, fabric, clothing, drywall, stone) up to and including the entire apartment.
I’ve been getting mold in my toilet bowl this summer. Would a urinal cake bleach thing in the tank help?
Are you aware that you're supposed to clean your toilet bowl with toilet cleaner and a toilet cleaning brush? Normal people do this multiple times per week.
I do. I’ve lived in my apartment for a few years but it has been noticeably worse this summer
Eating paleo, cutting out sugar (especially HFC) will prevent mould buildup in the toilet bowl.
I bought an used book and I didnt notice the white spots on the cover until I got home, feels bad man, im probably going to throw it in the bin or warp in plastic and put it over the wardrobe
Pics of it. It is over, now i'm kinda paranoid it'll spread to my other books even though they haven't come in contact at all
Do these things spread? I have some books with them and they haven't spread to my other books (yet).
Yes. They have spores
What if I buy a dehumidifier and put it close to my shelf? Wouldn't it kill them? Or what if I spread the molded books in the sun for a few hours?
In truth the spores are everywhere all the time so while it could spread from book to book it's equally likely to spread from the rest of the environment to some other book. A dehumidifier won't kill the mould or the spores but should inhibit further growth. I think that accepting the damage that has been done and storing books in an environment where mould can't grow (dehumidifier) is your best bet.
So I shouldn't throw them away? I'm scared, this thread made me terrified for my book collection, I have a ton of old books that have lost of stains and I'm really afraid of it spreading to my newer books...
Is this mold? I always found it strange that this book smells really bad, but it doesn't seem like there's a lot, in any case should I be worried about it spreading?
I just found this very nice guide to identifying mold, apparently there's a difference between active and inactive mold, yours seems to be inactive so there's no problem in keeping them as long as you preserve them on a clean ambient.
>, yours seems to be inactive
I would guess so too, as i've said, I didn't even notice the spots while buying it
What's the smell like?
It doesnt really smell
Your landlord is currently violating your lease by providing you with an apartment illegally infested with mold. This is not only a danger to your books, clothing and other organic possessions, but also a dire health threat to you. The mold can kill you, op, and it's a long, lingering, wheezing death, quite painful & ignoble, the sort you wouldn't want anyone else suffering through.
You need to contact your renters' insurance company pronto, as well as a lawyer, then bring your landlord in once you've already established a case.
You will be moved into an equivalently-priced mold-free apartment at the landlord's expense... or else you litigate them until bankruptcy. This is a serious threat to your life, anon. Imagine if you rented your couch out to people who want somewhere to sleep, but the couch gradually kills them a little bit each time they sleep on it until they are dead. This is like your situation. Get informed. Your books are the least of your worries right now.
>tenant infests and destroys an otherwise clean unit
>accepts no blame for living in filth and squalor and introducing mold into the unit
>whines to landlord
Same as it ever was.
Eat it. You'll become smarter. It's condensed knowledge
Are you guys insane? If a book even smells the slightest bit off I'm not sitting and reading with it. Mould spores are so bad for you. If you live amongst mould leave immediately.