Mildew is coming after my comics - help!

[Enemy Ace]

Hi, I live in a damp part of the world and in an area where houses aren't as well insulated as the US. We moved into a new home a few years back and I'm starting to realise my prized books 'n' comics are starting to see mold and mildew popping up. I wonder if anyone out there encounters this and has any tips or websites you can direct me to for solutions.

I've been storing my comic boxes in one of the damper rooms of the house which I realise now was a big mistake. I'm seeing white powdery mildew on the inside of some of the boxes and brownish-yellow spots on some of the outsides so am moving them immediately to a drier room in the house, but wondering what else I should do. About 75% of my collection is bagged and have been working to fix up the rest. I've got a pretty good dehumidifier but have been shamefully slack about using it in the library, but not any more, had a wake-up call (it's running right now!). I've replaced all my boxes recently enough that it seems only one or two older ones are showing any issues (some of my boxes were nearly 20 years old so it was overdue). I think I've managed to avoid the worst of the damage, and in retrospect I've been storing my short boxes in probably the worst spot in the house other than inside the shower for 2 years.

I'm seeing it in some of my collected editions, most particularly the cheaper newsprint ones like Essentials unfortunately, but for now I'm not seeing it in the more expensive books.

Long term, I'm looking at how good some of the dampproofing in my office/library is (I think some work needs to be done on an outside wall) but short term, I'm just trying to get out of the danger zone without having to torch my collection of 30+ years. It's definitely gotten worse since we moved to our current house unfortunately, but we're not planning on moving any time soon again so need to work with what I've got. Any other collectors deal with this problem?

[pud333]

I did a quick Google search and I believe the main thing is air circulation with fans, use the dehumidifier, dust / clean your books often and temperature regulation through heaters in the winter and air conditioners in the summer. But honestly, if you are living in a crappy house, I don't know how much you can really do. It's like having a damp basement: you gotta fix it. You need to eventually get to a better place (or insulate that room better) but for now, looks like fans and dehumidifiers are your friends. And clean. Cleanliness is godliness. Seriously, I dust and clean my books and shelves at least twice a month. Mildew is a growth produced by mold, and mold grows when you have a dirty space or dirty articles that are good for mold growth given the right temperature and moisture. You gotta starve the mold by cleaning. My comic book room is the cleanest in the entire house at all times. Good luck dude.

[codystarbuck]

You might also look into silica packets, which are used commercially to keep merchandise free of moisture. They are the little packets that look like salt, that you find in things like luggage and shoe boxes, in stores.