Help - MOLD on scrapbook cover (but not on the pages)

DH & I had been storing some things in his mom's storage space (she lives about a half hour away from us). Recently, we rented a storage space closer to us & decided to move our stuff from her space to our newer space.

While we were moving stuff, we opened boxes & purged some things. MIL's storage space was kind of damp/musty & we found MOLD on my very 1st modern scrapbook! (I say "modern" because I scrapped the old-fashioned ways growing up but that's not relevant right now!). The mold was on the scrapbook cover but the pages (all in plastic page protectors) did not have mold on them. So we threw out the cover but kept the pages.

Now I am wondering if we should throw out the pages, just to be safe. We have a baby & while these pages will be in our storage space for a while (until we sell our place & move into a bigger one, which could take a couple years w/ this market), I still feel weird about retaining something that could make us sick. But I don't want to be overreactive, ya know??

I've gotten some advice from friends - one said to lightly spray the pages w/ anti-mold Lysol. One said to put stuff in trash bags w/ moth balls. I don't know - has anyone ever deal with this &/or know what I should do??

The same thing happened to these photo frames we had packed up - the flocked backs had mold on them but the photos did not. So we threw out the frames but kept the photos. Again, not sure if we should throw out the photos too; they appear fine...

I know mold can exist even if not visible. I'd be heartbroken if I have to throw out a scrapbook! BUT health & safety come first. (FYI the new storage space is climate controlled so no chance of the same thing happening there)

Advice welcome! Thanks in advance.

If you choose to toss the pages, you might first want to see if there's an Archiver's near you where you could make full-size copies of those pages - it would be a bit pricey, but it might mitigate the heartbreak if you still had a copy of the book around.

I was also going to suggest scanning them and making copies. Even if you don't print them you can save them digitally.

Mold freaks me out, too, so I understand your concern.

• aquabunny Said:

Our local Staples makes 12x12 copies too. For about $4 a sheet. Prob could use a coupon too. Good luck!

Found this website. I know it talks mostly about photos but I think would apply to the paper too.
http://www.yesteryearmemories.com/mold_mildew_damage.asp

hope it helps.

Kim

I work in a research library where we often get donated books with mold. We always isolate the books in large ziploc bags to keep any mold from spreading to other books. I don't treat the books personally, but we use some very expensive items to clean our books. What I understand is that if there are colored spots of mold, you want to dry out the book/paper preferably in the sun (but that can fade colors). What you want is a dry, powdery finish to tell you that the mold spores are inactive. Removing the powder is the difficult part so that you don't spread it into the air.

If you don't see any spots, you should be okay. You may want to isolate the book just in case so that any mold doesn't spread to anything else in your storage.

Hope that helps.

Veronica

if you're able to scan them, you can print them out at costco as well.

Can you wipe the mould off or is it in the album cover?

If it's in the cover it has done damage and the smart move would be to replace the album.

I would air the pages in direct sunlight to kill any mould spores and put it them in a new album.

I'd say that you have a good chance of saving them.

It wouldn't hurt to take back up picture or scans of the album though.

Our fed ex store makes copies of 12x12 pages. I think they were about 2 bucks or less cause I was shocked. I had layouts copied there. They look exactly like the original when it is in the page protector.

I went to staples and used the regular color copies. The copies were 11 x 17 and the cost was $1.08 a page. If you have an edge with nothing on it you won't even notice.

Please do not use moth balls. They are toxic and the smell is nearly impossible to get out. I would hate to my photos smelling like that.

To remove the dried mold you can use painters tape. It is usually with painting supplies in anyplace that sells paint. It's like colored masking tape but had less 'tack'. Just be careful and do a little at a time, not a whole strip. I did this on a poster that I had in storage and it got moldy. dried it first and then did about 1/2 to 1 inch at a time and took my time. A guy at the paint store has suggested it and it worked. Just be sure to dry the pages totally. Hope this helps.

Wow, thank you all so much for all the information & suggestions.