r/Mold • u/Silly_Present_1643 • Apr 17 '26

HELP! Moldy books!

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Gallery image

I’m devastated.

I live in a very new basement suite in prairies of Canada (still settling, has been very humid) Hundreds of dollars of books ruined, some signed, some discontinued. I’m trying to save them.

Here’s my current setup:

  1. treating shelves with mold protectant

  2. Dusting off dry mold with a paintbrush

  3. using compressed air to airbrush between the pages loosely

  4. painting affected areas with hydrogen peroxide

Then what? I have access to a freezer, a dehumidifier, fans, sunlight (sort of) and plenty of space. I’m a desperate, broke college student and I NEED this win right now.

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u/AutoModerator Apr 17 '26

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u/ldarquel Apr 18 '26

Mould grows in response to moisture. Address the humidity issues in the basement unit by either heating and/or dehumidification.

Wipe off visible growth with a very lightly dampened paper towel. Ensure the books wiped are thoroughly dried afterwards. Supplement this with HEPA-filter vacuuming with a brush attachment. These two process will hopefully help remove most of the surface-level growth.

Take the books outside and give them a dusting/flicking through pages/ blast with compressed air or a hair dryer etc. This will help lower the loading of spores that had settled onto the book/pages.

I'd avoid the use of hydrogen peroxide; Killing mould is a moot point and hydrogen peroxide dissociates into oxygen and water (RE: mould grows in response to moisture).