Musty smell

[Christine Lofgren]

I just bought some old NG's and they have a pretty strong old "attic" musty smell. They don't look to have any mildew on them. Does anybody know how to get rid of this smell or of any products out there?
Thanks.

[Scott T. Shier]

Hello Christine,

just chatted w/ you on the other site, but I'll get back to you on your question.


- Scott S.

[Scott T. Shier]

Lay them outside in the fresh air, with a light breeze (or on front porch). While your putzing around keep an eye that they/it is not blowing away or ripping!

You can do this with the books and magazines. Sometimes just having them out of storage helps. You can take a very damp rag and wipe the outsides off too (grime, dirt, dust). This helps the scent and prevents your hands from getting black while handling them.

I heard from someone that you can put an issue in a large ziplock bag with kitty liter and shake it around and that is a stagnant smell remover!!! Wow - I don't know about that....haha.


- Scott S.

[Tom Gehring]

I just rescued a collection from 1956-1970 from a guy who found them in the attic of a house he just bought; they all have that same problem and a few of them were actually damp.

I found that standing them upright with the pages fanned out in a room with a dehumidifier overnight did help enough for me to be able to put them on the shelf. They still smell a little musty, but they've also been in an attic longer than I've been alive, so I'm okay with that. :)

[michael r gardner]

The musty smell is actually a type of mold. The following method does work and does take time. Your wife may get upset at you for doing this. Place musty iitems in zip lock bag place bag in your freezer for a minimium of 2 weeks to kill the mold or spores that are causing the smell depose of bag after two weeks and magazines should be free of smell

[Scott T. Shier]

Michael,

that is an interesting idea too! Now, next time, I'll give it a try too! I am sure my Mom won't mind my old Mags or books in the freezer, ha-ha.


- Scott S.

[C S]

I just picked up a collection of like 900+ (1930-2006) that's got the smell and makes my throat a bit itchy when handling so I'll start with the oldest ones and give this a try. Luckily I don't have a lot of stuff in my freezer!lol

They weren't really damp and don't show any signs of watter damage or mold spots - but they do have a good bit of dust on them. I've been using those electrostatic sheets/swiffer sheets to remove the dust. Last night after dusting just one year a good bit of dust had come off...

Can I do more than one mag at a time per bag though? Maybe like a larger, gallon zip lock with 5 magazines in it? I could maybe get 100 mags in the freezer per 2-3 week period using that method..

[Christine Lofgren]

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

[Noel Carlson]

I read on another vintage magazine collector site of carefully using a microwave to kill the mold and spores without over heating the magazine.  Has any NG collector tried this method?