Mildew/Dampness in unit history books - Help!!

[Jeffro]

Recently acquired a couple of unit histories. They are victims of improper storage and smell musty. No signs of actual mildew yet, but the pages have a damp feel to them and have begun to curl somewhat. How can I get the dampness out of the paper without damaging the pages or making them shrivel and wrinkle up (have some framed photos that got worse as they dried out) before the dreaded black mildew shows up?

[WPWWW1]

Recently acquired a couple of unit histories. They are victims of improper storage and smell musty. No signs of actual mildew yet, but the pages have a damp feel to them and have begun to curl somewhat. How can I get the dampness out of the paper without damaging the pages or making them shrivel and wrinkle up (have some framed photos that got worse as they dried out) before the dreaded black mildew shows up?

 

Hi

 

Get your self some copier/printer paper and put the sheets between the pages...then put weight on them, it will take some time, but it has worked for me.

 

Regards

 

Bill

[Bluehawk]

What Bill said can work, plus if it's really bad you can take them to (for example) a taxidermist or anyone who has a freeze dryer and put them through a cycle in that.

 

That's what museums sometimes do, when they have water/mildew damage to books from flooding...

 

Afterward, the mildew residue (ucky stuff) usually wipes right off.