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At the CCA Library, we have had quite striking success in treating musty books with MicroChamber papers, although this is not what these papers were designed for. We use the MicroChamber General Purpose Black/White paper offered by Conservation Resources. We use it in several ways. To treat a group of items, we line a Records Storage Box (including the lid) with it, place sheets of it between items,  put the lid on the box, set it aside for a few weeks, then check to see how it's doing. In some cases we interleave pages within an item. The results are usually quite astonishing. Occasionally, in severe cases, it is not so successful; the molecules in whatever is causing the odors are just too large; but it is always worth a try. Sometimes we give an item a second try. In any case, it can often make the difference between material that cannot comfortably be catalogued or consulted, and material that can be.  All best, Rosemary.
 

Rosemary Haddad
Bibliothécaire associée / Associate Librarian
Centre Canadien d'Architecture / Canadian Centre for Architecture
1920, rue Baile
Montréal, QC   H3H 2S6
CANADA
Tel. (514) 939-7000 ext.1374     Fax  (514) 939-7020
Email:  [log in to unmask]    URL:  http://cca.qc.ca

 
From: Raymond Smith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 3:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Musty odors on books: How to remove?

I recently had two exhibition catalogues returned by a new client (his first order).  He claimed that they had a musty odor and he did not want them to affect the rest of his library.  I suggested keeping them in a dry sunlit place for a few days, which he did, but he returned them
afterwards claiming that my suggestion did not work.  I found no traces of musty odor on the two items, nor could a customer who was visiting me at the time. 
    Nevertheless I would be interested in librarians' suggestions for removing musty or damp odors from books?  I bought a collection last summer from someone's basement and many of the items did indeed reek, though they were not dampstained or dampwrinkled.  I kept them  in sunlight for about two weeks and the smell was still present.  Any ideas?
    I had some good responses to my earlier query on removing bookplates and adhesive stickers from books and will share these responses along with a summary of what I find out about musty book odors if the membership is interested.
    Raymond Smith / R.W. Smith Bookseller