Moisture! How to save an album?

[wcskid]

Hi,

I have a Korea Japan 2002 album from Panini which started to get mildew or mold, I am not sure. The smell is strong and it has little red stains that were going to spread I think so.

How to fix this? Is there a way I can kill the mold/mildew without ruining the album? How can I get rid of the smell as well and the stains?

I will try to upload some pictures.

Thank you.

 

[Danju]

I think you cant stop that.
Where did or do you store your albums ? Those things usually just happen when there is to much humidity.

 

[wcskid]

Here some pictures:

I think you cant stop that.
Where did or do you store your albums ? Those things usually just happen when there is to much humidity.

What do you suggest to do with this album?

This one in particular was in a box in a closet. I know this is really bad. The rest of them were well storage. I am not sure how this album ended in that box.

 

[Ceesmk]

Sorry dude, I think you have to throw it away...Try to keep the pages without mildew to remove the stickers or cut them.

 

[Makhno]

Sorry dude, I think you have to throw it away..

Maybe a bit radical

 

[Bidus]

There is a way but it takes time.

Sun kills mildew, you have to put your album outside directly exposed to the sun and fresh air and no humidity.

Not easy to do, but it works, I have seen that from a friend in South Spain. I takes a full week using a fan, exposing the albuml to the sun on the sun roof of his house. Every day in the morning he exposed the album chaging the pages exposed every 2 or 3 hours. In summer, in South spain temperature can reach 35 to 40 degres celcius and few humidity.

The result is not perfect but almost. After that he store the album alone in a box in a very dry place, after a year or so, there was no more mildew and the album did almost not smell to humidity.

Hope this will help

Bidus

 

[Makhno]

In summer, in South spain temperature can reach 35 to 40 degres celcius and few humidity

Now the question to @wcskid is : are you leaving near the Death Valley or in North Dakota ?

 

[wcskid]

Maybe a bit radical

Just a bit!

Well, I can buy another one, but I also want to save this album in particular because it has a sentimental value to me.

There is a way but it takes time.

Sun kills mildew, you have to put your album outside directly exposed to the sun and fresh air and no humidity.

Not easy to do, but it works, I have seen that from a friend in South Spain. I takes a full week using a fan, exposing the albuml to the sun on the sun roof of his house. Every day in the morning he exposed the album chaging the pages exposed every 2 or 3 hours. In summer, in South spain temperature can reach 35 to 40 degres celcius and few humidity.

The result is not perfect but almost. After that he store the album alone in a box in a very dry place, after a year or so, there was no more mildew and the album did almost not smell to humidity.

Hope this will help

Bidus

Thank you for the information. This is precisely what I am doing now. Although the weather is not that hot here, the album is outside and I am using a fan and a hairdryer every day. I read about putting the album in a ziplock bag with some baking soda. Did someone try it?

Now the question to @wcskid is : are you leaving near the Death Valley or in North Dakota ?

In none of them .

 

[Makhno]

I read about putting the album in a ziplock bag with some baking soda. Did someone try it?

I never tried but read about it too. You can also swap the baking soda with rice.

 

[ilias]

Recently my home had no electricity due to the hurricane, I was actually worried this would happen since I had no power for about 2 weeks so the temperature raised. I haven't had the chance to look at everything, but what I did was test some duplicate stickers near the bins (Inside the bins is where I keep The albums/Stickers). I've noticed nothing happened, So I'm assuming The stickers/Albums will be fine. The only thing I can recommend is for the future check your storage. Closets are idle for storage, but needs to be in a cool temperature as well.

So I would recommend buy a dehumidifier for your collection to avoid this from happening again. Also if that's out of your budget I have Damprids in my closet these collect humidity in the air and are good prices 3 pack is usually $10. Also another cool thing I would recommend which I'm trying to find for myself is a meter which tells you the humidity levels in your room.