Comic book collection with an odor, what is it?

[dover]

hey, someone here knows the answer to my question. My uncle sent me his run of Amazing Spider-man comics. They were all bagged in the old plastic bags (ugh). I removed them and stacked them up to start to figure out what to do with them. I noticed a horrible smell coming from them.

 

I hate to describe it like this, but they smell like an older couples house. Is acrid the right term?

 

What is it? Is there any cure and who would buy them smelling like that?

 

It is a run of Amazing Spiderman 122 to 195 or so. He bought them off the rack. I wish they were high grade, but probably fine. But the smell...

[thehumantorch]

I've had old bags that turned yellow but the comics didn't stink. Not sure what the cause was but you might try sealing the books in a box with kitty litter or baking soda to try to deodorize them.

[dover]

I've had old bags that turned yellow but the comics didn't stink. Not sure what the cause was but you might try sealing the books in a box with kitty litter or baking soda to try to deodorize them.

 

I tried that for 3 months. There is no water damadge. They were in a basement, in the north (PA).

[mackenzie999]

They probably used some awful incense or candles, or maybe they just cooked stinky food. If deodorizing doesn't work, maybe try odorizing a couple as a test instead? Throw a few of the lesser ones in a box with something that smells ok? An idiotic idea, I know, but hey that's my $.02.

[lookwhoitis]

put them in a hot press and tsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

[dover]

put them in a hot press and tsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

 

wrong thread, pressing is else where

[Ze-man]

Ughh is right,acrid you say? Sounds like possible smoke damage. Not much to be done really other then airing each book out for a long time in fresh air and or outside.(or the methods you already tried) The smell might be made less severe but I doubt you will totally remove the funk.

 

Be careful though not to store them close to your other comics, even bagged the smell can transfer to your other books. What was that Seinfeld episode? The B following the O?

 

Since they are not HG I say sell'um unless you are keeping them since they were your uncle's books. All they will do is make your cringe, instead of smile.

 

Sorry if that sounds like harsh advice, but smelly books are not worth keeping.

[dopy02]

Ughh is right,acrid you say? Sounds like possible smoke damage. Not much to be done really other then airing each book out for a long time in fresh air and or outside.(or the methods you already tried) The smell might be made less severe but I doubt you will totally remove the funk.

 

Be careful though not to store them close to your other comics, even bagged the smell can transfer to your other books. What was that Seinfeld episode? The B following the O?

 

Since they are not HG I say sell'um unless you are keeping them since they were your uncle's books. All they will do is make your cringe, instead of smile.

 

Sorry if that sounds like harsh advice, but smelly books are not worth keeping.

 

good advice top to bottom

btw- is that the Seinfeld episode where the funk in his car was impossible to remove?

[szelim]

Not sure if any of the ideas in this thread work, but fyi:

 

Some info.

[divad]

More than likely, the odor is due to the presence of mold. Newsprint + high relative humidity + cool + dark = mold (fungi) The bags only help (hurt). The acrid smell is from the fungal activity and the degradation of the paper. How is the PQ? Any rusty staples? The environment had to be pretty poor for BA books to exhibit this.

[divad]

 

Sorry if that sounds like harsh advice, but smelly books are not worth keeping.

 

I bought a smelly book from a Board member . . . solution? I slabbed it. No smell through the slab.

[dover]

Thanks for all the help.

 

I'll probably put them up for sale in the selling forum and disclose as best I can the smell.

 

 

[namisgr]

Your description of the smell sounds like mothballs (camphor). It was commonly used back in the day (1950s-70s) in closets to keep clothes free of bugs. Some of the great comic collections were stored in closets with mothballs, like the White Mountain pedigree. The smell is not very pleasant on its own, but it keeps the paper very fresh and makes for a heady mix.

 

Do these Spideys have white pages, and were they stored in a closet with clothing and mothballs?

[nocutename]

I've had old bags that turned yellow but the comics didn't stink. Not sure what the cause was but you might try sealing the books in a box with kitty litter or baking soda to try to deodorize them.

 

I tried that for 3 months. There is no water damadge. They were in a basement, in the north (PA).

 

I bought a lot of books that have some funky smell as well. I suspect its from some bad storage conditions. I purchased them on ebay and I normally ask the seller about funky smell too but this was a spur of the moment last minute bid. I hate buying off of ebay too but I was bored.

 

I put them in boxes with baking soda and sealed them up. I figured on leaving them in there for one month and hoping for the best. You say that you did this for 3 months and no luck? I was even thinking of trying mircochamber paper but another poster told me that it will not deodorize.

 

Mine come out of the spa in another 10 days. So I will let you know if the trick worked or not.

 

 

[PovertyRow]

I was watching a tv show and they experiemnted with removing smells from a refrigerator. Baking Soda did work, but activated charcoal (carbon) worked much better. They said you can get it at pet stores as it is used in aquarium filters. But it is apparantly messy. I guess along the lines of granulated charcoal briquettes or similar.

 

But I did some looking and found these:

 

http://www.innofresh.com/innofresh-products/fridge-it/

 

I wonder if they would be more effective than baking soda or kitty litter?

[Ze-man]

I would say all those things would help more then hurt. But considering how many books he has it seems like an awful lot of work for little gain on otherwise low/midgrade books.

 

That said I can understand wanting the smell gone, so if he does try to different methods on a few books I would reccomend lots of moving air passing around and through the opened books. It just seems logical that a book sitting in a de- smelling chamber(for lack of a better term) would get better results with moving air passing around and through the book.

 

Heck, placing an opened book for a week in front of a fan might help, just don't turn it on high if the book is too close.

 

 

btw, Happy New Year pov

 

 

 

 

[nocutename]

I was watching a tv show and they experiemnted with removing smells from a refrigerator. Baking Soda did work, but activated charcoal (carbon) worked much better. They said you can get it at pet stores as it is used in aquarium filters. But it is apparantly messy. I guess along the lines of granulated charcoal briquettes or similar.

 

But I did some looking and found these:

 

http://www.innofresh.com/innofresh-products/fridge-it/

 

I wonder if they would be more effective than baking soda or kitty litter?

 

I would think that the active carbon would work better. I cannot see it being any more messy than the baking soda. I poured my out at the bottom of the box and put the comics on a rack just above it.

 

Thank you for the link, those products look great. I like the clip-on ones for the car. Perhaps, I may get them to just put in the inside of all my short boxes just in case.

 

[dover]

I believe mothballs have to be what it was. Its that smell for sure. The books are fresh and crisp so it makes sense. There are just too many for me to do one or two at a time and my wife is not going to let me leave them out where the smell drives her crazy.

 

I'll put them up for sale,, fully dislose the smell and hope for the best.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

[PovertyRow]

I was watching a tv show and they experiemnted with removing smells from a refrigerator. Baking Soda did work, but activated charcoal (carbon) worked much better. They said you can get it at pet stores as it is used in aquarium filters. But it is apparantly messy. I guess along the lines of granulated charcoal briquettes or similar.

 

But I did some looking and found these:

 

http://www.innofresh.com/innofresh-products/fridge-it/

 

I wonder if they would be more effective than baking soda or kitty litter?

 

I would think that the active carbon would work better. I cannot see it being any more messy than the baking soda. I poured my out at the bottom of the box and put the comics on a rack just above it.

 

Thank you for the link, those products look great. I like the clip-on ones for the car. Perhaps, I may get them to just put in the inside of all my short boxes just in case.

 

My main concern for the "messiness" was that baking soda won;t stain but activated charcoal could dirty the books should a spill occur or should you have some still on your hands unbeknownst to you while placing the books in the box. I could just see a bit of charcoal being rubbed into a crease etc.

[AJD]

I bought a boxful of comics last year and they had a very peculiar smell. I got some of my wife's friends to give 'em a sniff (they are paper resoration/preservation professionals) and they couldn't identify the smell as any known mould/fungus/bad for paper thing. I sold them on, forgot about it, and was walking past a timber yard where they were treating timber - bingo. The smell was timber treatment. Sure enough, the seller confirmed that they had been stored in a home-made cupboard made (for reasons that escape me) of treated pine. If anything, it was likely to aid the long-term preservation of the books.