Yesterday morning I found this mould on my bookshelf.  I was actually relieved - I'd been a bit depressed the night before and now at least I had a biological reason for why I'd been so down.

Of course I was also revolted and somewhat upset.  This bookshelf had CDs and DVDs on it... and there are other cases with books... which were now all very likely infested with mould.

I was concerned about the mould spreading farther than it already had - by the time mould is concentrated enough for humans to see it with the naked eye, the branches or roots have already travelled 17 kilometres.  That's the distance (as the crow flies) from Brisbane CBD to Sandgate, or the distance from Caloundra to Maroochydore, or Southport to Burleigh Heads.  Yes, mould has penetrated that far before it's even big enough for us to see!

That's why I was concerned about the books.  I suspect the CDs and DVDs would be okay - I'll probably have to throw away the covers because they're paper, but the actual discs are plastic so I should be able to wash them in water with some detergent and they should be okay.  If you're doing this, you need to physically wash them using a cloth, as this will remove the mould.  Just dunking them in water with soap won't do it.

Paper, being organic and much more easily consumed by mould, is a bit of an issue.  Of the books on that case, I've found about ten that I'm not willing to part with.  Those ones will need to be vacuumed with a HEPA vacuum cleaner - each page, making sure to get right into the fold, all the way around the outside.  I'll wipe over the outsides with a very slightly damp cloth ( 80% vinegar and water) and make sure they're dried thoroughly.  I'll probably put them in a room with tea tree in an oil burner too.  They'll need to be quarantined from all my other books to ensure the mould is gone.

Of all of these potential cleaning solutions, the vacuuming is the important part.  98% of mould removal is physical action - actually physically wiping or vacuuming the mould away.  The HEPA vacuum is so that the mould doesn't just go through the vacuum cleaner and back out into the air, spreading everywhere.  I'll need to wash the HEPA filter afterwards too.  80% vinegar and water will do the trick.  I'll soak it in that, then dry it in the sun to make sure all the mould is dead and gone.

The bookshelves, being melamine over particle board (chipboard) will also need to be thrown away.  If they were real wood, I'd wash them in a mix of vinegar and water with a dash of tea tree.  If they were glass and metal, I'd just wipe the mould away.  Because they're so easily permeable (like paper) and not able to withstand the liquid soaking into them without damage, they'll need to be thrown away.  Another excellent reason to avoid particle board and melamine products.  (Apart from the poisons in the glues).  I've been wanting to get rid of these cases for a while - because of the toxins - so this mould infestation has speeded up the process.

The other books will need to be thrown away, because I don't really have the inclination to go through the cleaning process.  I'm thinking this is a good excuse to buy a Kindle or an iPad or something similar.  All in all, this is a good time for me to declutter the lounge, modernise and lighten my book collection as well as clean the air and feel better!

28 Jan 2012

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