Cartons of wet music books

[Ed McCullough]

Late at night I was walking in a nearby neighborhood and found a house where someone threw out many things without thought of taking them to Goodwill or Salvation Army resale shops. There were about 6 large boxes of music, mostly in book form. There had been a rain, so everything is very damp. Some spots are wet. I hauled it all into my living space. What are the ideas you have for dryig this?  I imagine using plastic crates with lots of air holes. Setting music books on end. Running air conditioner and fans. Keep moving the books around so all surfaces come to air.

Man this stuff looks like gourmet dinners for cockroaches and silverfish.

What ideas do you guys and gals have for drying the music books?

[John Broecker]

Wet papers are practically gone,
but some things may work. These
suggestions haven't been tried by
me, try them at your own risk.

DON'T store wet or damp papers
inside your house; wet or damp
papers invite mold and mildew.

If you want to restore the papers,
store them in your garage or shed
temporarily. Keep the garage or shed
well-ventilated, and run a revolving
fan, non-stop.

1. Try air-drying the papers & books
on a very hot, sunny day, outside. OR:

2. Pre-heat your conventional oven,
to 300 degrees Fahrenheit or less,
insert the papers into the oven on a
tray or cookie-sheet, for 10 minutes,
more if needed. Paper burns at
451 degrees Fahrenheit.

DON'T use your air conditioner to
dry the papers. The AC puts water
vapors into the air. Less water is
needed, not more.

Best Regards, Stay Healthy

JB

[Grizzly]

Check with your local library. They may resources. Also check online (YouTube) for instruction.

Tom

[beads]

Chances are most of that music has been scanned and is available online. Check out the vast collection from Bernie here at SlideMeister. That alone could keep you busy for years. If you really want the paper copies then search for the books by title on Ebay. You could probably buy nice, dry copies for a few dollars. I buy used books in good condition online from a place called ABE books.
I wouldn't try to salvage wet books.

[SlideMeister]

Landfill !   Nothin' worse than damp, mildewed, moldy, slimy, germ and bug infested papers. Heck, that stuff won't even burn well.  I'd just throw'em all away and just play by ear.
(Yeah, I know; I'm a rat!  )

Age

[Ed McCullough]

There was only a 1½ indh wiidth of one book that was sodden. The rest were extremely damp (afer I left them with fan blowoing in air conditioned room 7 hours. They are all now standing on end with dowoel spacers between them. Eventually they will be in fine condition.

[smojoe]

You could place them in closed boxes, spaced up from the bottom with bricks, and 'Damp-Rid' below. The granules will suck the life out of them.