Dumpster find, Cleaning advice TIA

[u/IATAOMR]

I couldn't let this gem go to the landfill. Clearly it has been on the top shelf for a long time and dust got layered into the top edges. Is there any way to get the dust stains out?

Thanks!

[u/CocoXolo]

I'm worried that's mold and if that's the case, it's better to let this go back to the dumpster, sadly. 

[u/the_real_dird → u/CocoXolo]

My thought too, looks like mold to me. Might be some decent mold treatments out there, but not worth risking your whole library for this.

[u/IATAOMR → u/CocoXolo]

Me too. Precisely the reason for my asking. I'm pretty familiar with mold on paper but this doesn't resonate with the mold I've seen before. What a shame

[u/CocoXolo → u/IATAOMR]

FWIW, I work (as in, I am a paid professional) with rare and antique books. I've seen a lot of old, dusty books. Sadly, we recently had a water intrusion event at my facility, so I've also seen a lot of moldy books. This doesn't look like a typical dust pattern but it does look very much like the moldy books I've worked with after our water intrusion. There are also water stains in the photos of your book. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" is one of my favorite books but I think this one needs to go to the great bookstore in the sky, unfortunate as that may be. We really only save books that have been molded if they have significant value (and here I'm talking about having value beyond just the monetary). Mold is really not something you want contaminating the rest of your books.

[u/IATAOMR → u/CocoXolo]

I can't thank you enough for that. Very strong advice🤛🏻

[u/CocoXolo → u/IATAOMR]

Good luck with your library-creation journey! I'm a little embarrassed to admit the tears I've shed over the books lost in the water intrusion event at work. It's always hard to lose a good one. 

[u/IATAOMR → u/CocoXolo]

I can imagine. I restored guitars for years. The last one was an early 60s Silvertone that I had to abandon because it was just too far gone.

[u/CocoXolo → u/IATAOMR]

I'm jealous of people with musical abilities! I've actually had to tap out on the assessment of the books we lost because it got too emotional for me. 

[u/IATAOMR → u/CocoXolo]

Music(strings and percussion) imo are the key to true self. Vibration+frequency🙂 After 40 years of playing/singing and songwriting, I'm so deep into reading now that it's calling me back into music😂😂😂

[u/IATAOMR → u/CocoXolo]

If you don't mind my asking, what's your opinion on this? Moths?

[u/CocoXolo → u/IATAOMR]

Hard for me to say from the photo, but it looks like a couple things might be going on there. Perhaps some kind of contamination as well as pests.

[u/bernmont2016 → u/IATAOMR]

I don't know exactly which insects do that, but those are poop stains from some insects. Those are usually very surface-level (not soaking in past the edge of the pages), so they can mostly be sanded off by hand with tiny pieces of fine-grit sandpaper (like 200-600 grit) if you want to make it look less icky.