[Ian Bell[_2_]]

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??


Cheers

Ian

[Ian Iveson]

Ian Bell wrote:

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles
away from us, and by chance came upon a second hand
bookshop. Not that unusual around here except it had two
shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of up here
on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4
for a mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite
strongly of must. Does not bother me, but her indoors
won't give it house room. I have left it open for over a
week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much
as it did over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple
methods for getting rid of the musty smell in old books??

I guess you need to dry it thoroughly. Probably slowly, so
it doesn't curl. If you can't get it into the house you're
in a vicious circle.

Once it's dry the dead mould can be brushed off, leaving
grey spots where it's penetrated the paper. A shelf full of
my books went musty in a glass-fronted bookcase, and the
smell soon went once they got some ventilation.

Ozone, and maybe ion, generators are commonly used to deal
with odours. Maybe, if museum quality is not required, you
could wrap it in a net curtain and tumble dry it at the
launderette? It's a while since I've been to one, but they
used ozone in the dryer air.

But I spot a contradiction in the fabric of your story. If
She is minded to be housewifely, then surely book
deodorisation falls into her domain? If she can't deal with
the problem then she's a failure and has no right to
complain because it's her fault. Take her to the local
college and sign her up for a City and Guilds in Domestic
Drudgery.

Ian

[[email protected]]

On Jul 20, 4:52*am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

YIKES!

Irradiation, indeed. And I assume it is at least dry to the touch.

Obtain a pound or so of activated charcoal - such as is used for fish-
tank filters and such. Make sure it is fresh and from a sealed
container.

Obtain two (2) ounces of moth crystals - the nasty stuff. Or perhaps
four (4) mothballs of the standard 3/4" diameter. But crystals work
better as they sublimate more quickly.

Obtain a dark plastic bag.

Place book and moth crystals in the bag, seal it.

Leave in warm, dry place - better yet in the sun - for one (1) full
week. The moth crystals will kill any mold, mildew, insects, bacteria
or other flora and fauna within the book. No need to leave it open.

Air out for 24 hours.

Install charcoal and book in the same bag, seal it. Repeat the warm/
dry/sun for one week.

The charcoal will remove any residual odors.

You can bake out the charcoal and re-use it if you want, but keep it
tightly sealed between uses or it will absorb everything around it.

Done.

This will work for about anything that will fit in a bag and would not
be damaged by the chemicals involved.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[PeterD]

On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:52:46 +0100, Ian Bell
wrote:

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??


Cheers

Ian

Consider starting by baking in an oven at about 180 to 190 degrees F
(about 87 degrees C) for a while, open to middle of the book. If the
pages lift up some, that allows air circulation.

[[email protected]]

On Jul 20, 8:49*am, PeterD wrote:
On Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:52:46 +0100, Ian Bell
wrote:

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

Consider starting by baking in an oven at about 180 to 190 degrees F
(about 87 degrees C) for a while, open to middle of the book. If the
pages lift up some, that allows air circulation.

Works for those books assembled with good paper, synthetic fabrics and
synthetic glues. Not so much with those with cotton bindings and
natural glues and poor-quality paper. You could be left with a very
brittle result. Just be careful with high heat and forced drying
methods.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Ian Bell[_2_]]

wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

YIKES!

Irradiation, indeed. And I assume it is at least dry to the touch.

Obtain a pound or so of activated charcoal - such as is used for fish-
tank filters and such. Make sure it is fresh and from a sealed
container.

Obtain two (2) ounces of moth crystals - the nasty stuff. Or perhaps
four (4) mothballs of the standard 3/4" diameter. But crystals work
better as they sublimate more quickly.

Obtain a dark plastic bag.

Place book and moth crystals in the bag, seal it.

Leave in warm, dry place - better yet in the sun - for one (1) full
week. The moth crystals will kill any mold, mildew, insects, bacteria
or other flora and fauna within the book. No need to leave it open.

Air out for 24 hours.

Install charcoal and book in the same bag, seal it. Repeat the warm/
dry/sun for one week.

The charcoal will remove any residual odors.

You can bake out the charcoal and re-use it if you want, but keep it
tightly sealed between uses or it will absorb everything around it.

Done.

This will work for about anything that will fit in a bag and would not
be damaged by the chemicals involved.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA


Thanks for that Peter, I'll give that one a try. The only problem I see
is getting two weeks of warm/dry/sun here in the UK ;-)

Cheers

Ian

[Engineer[_2_]]

On Jul 20, 4:52*am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook :-)
How about that spray product, Febreze?
Cheers,
Roger

[Patrick Turner]

Ian Bell wrote:

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must.

For Goodness sake Ian, the good big bookie is trying to tell you on no
uncertain terms that you MUST ****in read the damn thing before it and
yourself fall apart.




RDH4 is a MUST READ type of book for audio nutters who are addicted to
farnarkelling around with tubes.



Does not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Ah, such a simple solution.

Just READ it, and as you open a page, and cogitate about the content or
every unwastful sentence and diagram, the smell will diminish.

The best of Old Knowledge will be found to stink less the more you
absorb it.

Now get ye away out of the house my young fellow, and hither to the shed
thy goest, with Book and passion to turn on a soldering iron to make
good amps. Be not the ditherer, get a move along, especially with regard
to radio work because Digital looms to wash away all manner of good
sounding analog radio signals.

She who dislikes the smell of old books must be tolerated kindly; 'tis
unfortunate she not realise a good read can have a forgivable stink
about it.

Patrick Turner.


Cheers

Ian

[Patrick Turner]

Ian Iveson wrote:

Ian Bell wrote:

We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles
away from us, and by chance came upon a second hand
bookshop. Not that unusual around here except it had two
shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of up here
on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4
for a mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite
strongly of must. Does not bother me, but her indoors
won't give it house room. I have left it open for over a
week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much
as it did over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple
methods for getting rid of the musty smell in old books??

I guess you need to dry it thoroughly. Probably slowly, so
it doesn't curl. If you can't get it into the house you're
in a vicious circle.

Maybe placing it in the microwave oven at medium low for 10minutes could
dry it.

But he should try other expendable cheap novels with nothing in them
worth learning before microwaving a very Good Book.



Once it's dry the dead mould can be brushed off, leaving
grey spots where it's penetrated the paper. A shelf full of
my books went musty in a glass-fronted bookcase, and the
smell soon went once they got some ventilation.

Ozone, and maybe ion, generators are commonly used to deal
with odours. Maybe, if museum quality is not required, you
could wrap it in a net curtain and tumble dry it at the
launderette? It's a while since I've been to one, but they
used ozone in the dryer air.

But I spot a contradiction in the fabric of your story. If
She is minded to be housewifely, then surely book
deodorisation falls into her domain? If she can't deal with
the problem then she's a failure and has no right to
complain because it's her fault. Take her to the local
college and sign her up for a City and Guilds in Domestic
Drudgery.

I fear you have the most attrocious advice about domestic management
issues to offer the OP.

I guess you would have been divorced years ago, if not, your missus MUST
be stupid indeed.

Patrick Turner.



Ian

[Ian Bell[_2_]]

Engineer wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook :-)

Funny you should say that we are thinking about building a summer house.
It could just be my 'outdoors' copy ;-)


How about that spray product, Febreze?

Is it Fabreze, I think I know what you mean - I think her indoors uses it.

Cheers

Ian
Cheers,
Roger

[Ian Iveson]

Patrick Turner wrote:

Maybe placing it in the microwave oven at medium low for
10minutes could
dry it.

Like the apocryphal poodle, it might get too hot.

But he should try other expendable cheap novels with
nothing in them
worth learning before microwaving a very Good Book.

Once it's dry the dead mould can be brushed off, leaving
grey spots where it's penetrated the paper. A shelf full
of
my books went musty in a glass-fronted bookcase, and the
smell soon went once they got some ventilation.

Ozone, and maybe ion, generators are commonly used to
deal
with odours. Maybe, if museum quality is not required,
you
could wrap it in a net curtain and tumble dry it at the
launderette? It's a while since I've been to one, but
they
used ozone in the dryer air.

But I spot a contradiction in the fabric of your story.
If
She is minded to be housewifely, then surely book
deodorisation falls into her domain? If she can't deal
with
the problem then she's a failure and has no right to
complain because it's her fault. Take her to the local
college and sign her up for a City and Guilds in Domestic
Drudgery.

I fear you have the most attrocious advice about domestic
management
issues to offer the OP.

Just a passing comment on the quaint "her indoors"
descriptor. I realised some while ago that not everyone
shares my delight in trivial irony.

All the book needs is a couple of weeks in a warm dry
environment and an occasional turn to stop it from curling.
The little springtails and mites will move out, the mould
will die and stop smelling, and a brush over will leave
it as good as it's ever going to be.

If it's really not allowed in the house, then a box with a
few sachets of silica gel might be OK. Works for biscuits.

But, I was rather hoping for a report along the lines of "I
tumble-dried my mouldy RDH4 at the launderette after
wrapping it in a net curtain and this is what happened." If
I had a net curtain and a mouldy book I would try it just
for the joy of the experiment. I would wonder whether,
wrapped loosely, the pages might flutter enough to allow air
to circulate, but not enough to get dog-eared or torn.

I would guess that it's rarely worth treating damp mould,
because it'll always come back if the environment favours
it. Deal with the damp, then there's nothing to treat. Works
for walls.

I guess you would have been divorced years ago, if not,
your missus MUST
be stupid indeed.

Daft as a brush and twice as nasty.

Ian

[Engineer[_2_]]

On Jul 21, 4:50*am, Ian Bell wrote:
Engineer wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook *:-)

Funny you should say that we are thinking about building a summer house.
It could just be my 'outdoors' copy ;-)

How about that spray product, Febreze?

Is it Fabreze, I think I know what you mean - I think her indoors uses it..

Cheers

Ian



Cheers,
Roger- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Wot, complete with a crapper?!
BTW, it is "Febreze" (I just checked the spray bottle.) It's
advertised over here (Canada) as a spray for sofas, carpets and
curtains to mask pet odours, etc. "Safely cleans odours on fabrics",
it says. (Is that like "To boldly go, etc"? Ah, well...) I've never
sprayed in into old radios. We use it to mask the cat's litter smell
in the crawl space - next to my workshop, unfortunately!
Cheers,
Roger

[Ian Bell[_2_]]

Engineer wrote:
On Jul 21, 4:50 am, Ian Bell wrote:
Engineer wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??
Cheers
Ian
Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook :-)
Funny you should say that we are thinking about building a summer house.
It could just be my 'outdoors' copy ;-)

How about that spray product, Febreze?
Is it Fabreze, I think I know what you mean - I think her indoors uses it.

Cheers

Ian



Cheers,
Roger- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Wot, complete with a crapper?!
BTW, it is "Febreze" (I just checked the spray bottle.) It's
advertised over here (Canada) as a spray for sofas, carpets and
curtains to mask pet odours, etc. "Safely cleans odours on fabrics",
it says. (Is that like "To boldly go, etc"? Ah, well...) I've never
sprayed in into old radios. We use it to mask the cat's litter smell
in the crawl space - next to my workshop, unfortunately!
Cheers,
Roger

Yes, it's probably just the way I remember it being said on the advert
on TV. I'll ask the missus and try it. Thanks for the tip.

Cheers

ian

[GregS[_3_]]

In article , Ian Bell wrote:
Engineer wrote:
On Jul 21, 4:50 am, Ian Bell wrote:
Engineer wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??
Cheers
Ian
Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook :-)
Funny you should say that we are thinking about building a summer house.
It could just be my 'outdoors' copy ;-)

How about that spray product, Febreze?
Is it Fabreze, I think I know what you mean - I think her indoors uses it.

Cheers

Ian



Cheers,
Roger- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Wot, complete with a crapper?!
BTW, it is "Febreze" (I just checked the spray bottle.) It's
advertised over here (Canada) as a spray for sofas, carpets and
curtains to mask pet odours, etc. "Safely cleans odours on fabrics",
it says. (Is that like "To boldly go, etc"? Ah, well...) I've never
sprayed in into old radios. We use it to mask the cat's litter smell
in the crawl space - next to my workshop, unfortunately!
Cheers,
Roger

Yes, it's probably just the way I remember it being said on the advert
on TV. I'll ask the missus and try it. Thanks for the tip.

Cheers

ian


I picked up a couple issues of an old electronics mag. Smelled real good.

I never did anything except keep it away from the nose.
You could first try baking it in the oven. Not too hot though.
Leving it out in the sun would also be good or better.
A little ozone helps.

greg

[Bret L]

For Goodness sake Ian, the good big bookie is trying to tell you on no
uncertain terms that you MUST ****in read the damn thing before it and
yourself fall apart.


RDH 4 is a huge and awkward book. While it has a lot of good
information it is not for the beginner. There are many other books and
there is nothing special or supreme about the RDH. Excessive reliance
on it is in fact bad.

I have gotten more useful and necessary information from the ARRL
Radio Amateur's Handbook of the tube years than from RDH.

The Audio Cyclopedia also has as much good stuff as does RDH.

US Navy rate training manuals IMO are the best electronic training
documents there are. I have seen the British ones as well (which the
rest of the Anglosphere used ) and they are not quite as good but
still good. Beyond that study the better commercial designs as well as
the literature the tube and transformer makers put out and the IRE and
JAES pubs, if you want to build GOOD equipment.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Patrick would not be quite as happy
with RDH 4 if it had all came out of Camden.....

At any rate experiment with worthless books first if book preserving
is your thing, although since RDH4 is actually common, and is in the
public domain, it's no big loss.

[Ian Bell[_2_]]

Engineer wrote:
On Jul 21, 4:50 am, Ian Bell wrote:
Engineer wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:52 am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??
Cheers
Ian
Ian, you could just read it in the liitle house at the bottom of the
garden... just don't use the book pages instead of the cut-up
newspaper on the hook :-)
Funny you should say that we are thinking about building a summer house.
It could just be my 'outdoors' copy ;-)

How about that spray product, Febreze?
Is it Fabreze, I think I know what you mean - I think her indoors uses it.

Cheers

Ian



Cheers,
Roger- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Wot, complete with a crapper?!
BTW, it is "Febreze" (I just checked the spray bottle.) It's
advertised over here (Canada) as a spray for sofas, carpets and
curtains to mask pet odours, etc. "Safely cleans odours on fabrics",
it says. (Is that like "To boldly go, etc"? Ah, well...) I've never
sprayed in into old radios. We use it to mask the cat's litter smell
in the crawl space - next to my workshop, unfortunately!
Cheers,
Roger


Hi Roger,

Just wanted to let you know we tried Febreze yesterday. The missus did
the business outside (because Febreze can take your breath away). She
sprayed the front, back and the edges then she fanned the pages and
sprayed as she fanned. Anyway, today the book is quite odourless.

1st class tip. Many thanks.

Cheers

Ian

[fryzz]

On Jul 20, 4:52*am, Ian Bell wrote:
We spent the day at Sheringham, a seaside town a few miles away from us,
and by chance came upon a second hand bookshop. Not that unusual around
here except it had two shelves of old radio books ()which is unheard of
up here on the North Norfolk Coast). I scored a 1967 copy of RDH4 for a
mere 6 GBP. The only trouble is it smells quite strongly of must. Does
not bother me, but her indoors won't give it house room. I have left it
open for over a week, changing the pen page every now and again in the
hope the smell will dissipate but is still smalls as much as it did
over a week ago. So, does anyone know any simple methods for getting rid
of the musty smell in old books??

Cheers

Ian

Seal it in 5 gallon paint bucket with a few pounds of anhydrous
calcium chloride (aka "Damp Rid") and leave it in warm place for a few
weeks.