Another Tip When Storing Your books — Desiccants
March 1st, 2008 by Alan Chudnow
For those unfamiliar with desiccants, it is a substance that essentially “sucks up” moisture from the surrounding air. You’ve probably encountered it as small white packets in vitamin bottles and other products that need to be protected from humidity. Desiccants are most effective in a closed environment such as a hermetically sealed bottle or plastic bag but can be used in other ways.
I’ve never used a desiccant in storing my books as I live in a relatively dry climate (although after writing this I’m now seriously thinking about it) but it’s certainly something worth considering if you’re planning to store your books for any length of time in a climate prone to humidity or excessive damp.
There are a number of commercial products that one can find in prepackaged form which can be placed in your boxes with your books. Salt is a common desiccant and is a natural antibiotic and anti-fungal agent as well which is why it is commonly used in the preservation of food. Rice is another low-cost desiccant and you can easily make small packets of either tied up in a piece of porous cloth to pack with your books.
Thanks to ScifiDrive for this comment on an added precaution for protecting ones books in storage.
Glad to contribute something for preserving books!
Btw, silica gel beads are renewable just by heating it up.
http://www.southernexposure.com/library/drying-seed-silica-gel.html
I’ve been wondering about using desiccants for a while. I live in New York City, and the weather can become really humid and muggy in the summer.
Are there any downsides to using desiccants? I know that paper can become TOO dry — same with the glue that holds paperbacks together. This is one of the reason old Ace Doubles (especially the D series) are so often in terrible condition… Cheap glue, which dried out and then disintegrated.
Any thoughts/advice on controlling the moisture content, as opposed to just cutting it back?
Thanks.
Brian,
Your best bet for controlling heat and moisture is of course a climate controlled environment like your home. Remember the rule that if you’re comfortable living in a space then your books will be too. However as we’re talking storage here that’s probably not likely to be the case.
Another common practice that I didn’t cover in my Care and Storage articles is keeping individual books in a plastic bag. The three most common types of “poly” bag used are polyethylene, polypropylene and Mylar. These are considered “archival” quality as they don’t have any chemical components that contribute to the breakdown of the paper. You can usually find them at a local comic book store or a web search will turn up a number of sources.
I may get around to doing a whole post on poly bags when time permits.