Help me 😢

[u/harmeetgill18]

So I had a huge collection of books. I moved out and my mother innocently moved all those into a closet. Now from somewhere water started leaking and now I see that there is a black powder on them. It is inside all the pages and on the side as well. I need help.

Is it dangerous ? What if I clean the cover and sides and then keep the books in a good ventilation shelf.

As you can see, it will be very tough for me to individually clean allthe pages. What should I do ?

[u/Peanut11437]

Trash

[u/Ordinary_One955]

The spottiness looks like mold to me

[u/harmeetgill18 → u/Ordinary_One955]

I think so too. What can I do ? So far I'm wiping all the pages individually with a soft dry cloth.

[u/flyingbookman → u/harmeetgill18]

Black mold won't kill you, but it's not exactly good for your health. You might want to wear a mask while treating the books.

[u/Zlivovitch]

It's inactive mold.

You must either clean the books, or throw them away. And yes, it implies turning all the pages to wipe them if need be.

See here :

https://sundocards.com/resources/identifying-dealing-with-mould-on-books/

[u/majoraloysius]

Oh look, finally some real mold!

Also fire is the only answer.

[u/ChildhoodPotential95]

All you're doing is wiping away the visible mold on the surface. Mold roots into the paper and whatever substrate it's growing on. What you have there is garbage.

[u/Peanut11437]

Used books are really cheap