[LM_NET] Stinky, smelly books

[Gail Grainger <ggrainger@DEWEYBROWSE.ORG>]

This was on the NHAIS_L list today, and thought everyone might want to see
it.It was originally about books that smelled like smoke, but it covers a
lot of different smells.
Gail
OUR FAVORITE SOLUTION.... STINKY BOX!
We have a patron called "Stinky box."  When the books come back from a
smoker, they are checked out to "Stinky box" and put in a cardboard box
that has a rack over some charcoal.  We fan the pages and leave the book
propped open as best we can.  If the book coming in has a hold on it, we
generally give it a quick Lysol spray and send it back out again.  The
stinky box is stored in one of our utility spaces so as not to offend
anyone!

We have a two-book-sized Baker & Taylor box, in which a stinky book spends
an overnighter with a paper towel full of Febreze (or white vinegar, if it
smells like urine), and then it spends an overnighter in front of a box
fan to blow the stink off.

We put the offending book into a garbage bag with ground coffee.... We
purchase an inexpensive can of a strong roast coffee, dump it into a
garbage bag, put the book(s) into the bag, tie off the bag, and within a
week or less, the book has no odor... not even a coffee odor. We have
reused the same coffee for years. It does work well with any odor...
perfumes for instance and with smelly rugs... sprinkle it over the rug,
leave it over night, then vaccum the rug and no odor! (not even old wet
dog stink).

This may not be what you're looking for.... but we put the books in a bag
with some coffee crystals -- a few hours later they are ok-

we seal our "smelly" books in paper bags with a couple dryer sheets for a
few days and that helps quite a bit. I would be interested in knowing what
other tips you get. Good luck!

We put the books in a zip lock bag with cedar chips and give it a couple
days. The chips last through many ‘cycles’. We have used coffee grounds,
which are excellent but hard to get out of the spine. I’ve heard that
kitty litter works well also.

We have one such notable patron. Rather than start anything with the
patron, we have placed a book into a brown bag with some baking soda for
2- 3 days. The bestsellers we just let go out again, due to demand.

tuck a few dryer sheets between the pages and seal it up in a plastic bag
for a couple of days.  (A few shots of Lysol also help -- careful not to
get the pages too damp.)

We have a couple of patrons who return stinky items and I have found that
products by the brand Smelleze work well to get the smells out.



Gail Shea Grainger
Librarian, Chesterfield School, Chesterfield, NH
Dewey Browse --K-12 Web site cataloged by Dewey Decimal Classification
http://www.deweybrowse.org ggrainger@deweybrowse.org
Past President NHEMA

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