Conservator’s Corner
Sharon Gehl
What do you do with wonderful old books and magazines, when their musty smell makes you want to throw them away? Faced with that problem last year, I searched the web without success, and then started phoning libraries. Finally a preservationist at the Huntington Library recommended “ONE DROP”, a household deodorizer. It comes in a little green bottle and can be found in some groceries stores; the Vons in Mission Hills carries it.
Put a drop or two on a cotton ball, put a few balls in a cardboard box or plastic bag filled with whatever you are trying to deodorize, and close it up. It takes a day or two to work. If there isn’t enough of a change the first time, repeat the process. Putting cotton balls behind books on a shelf or in a drawer seems to also work. The effect is permanent, or else I’ve gotten used to the smell of musty old books!
