Make Smelly, Moldy, Old Books Like New Again with This Simple Trick

Have you ever found a book you just had to have while browsing at a thrift store or garage sale? If you are a bargain shopper like me, you can't pass up a good deal on an old favorite and when I recently found a hand full of first edition copies of some awesome books, that must have been decades, if not centuries old I just had to buy them. I was so excited I didn't even notice that although I had fun some hidden treasures, they stunk something awful.

After contemplating and a testing a few methods, I found this way of cleaning the scent of the books the most effect. It's super easy and while it may take a while for the smell to completely disappear, it's definitely a useful way of restoring glory to some classic literature.

Before we get started, you'll want to take a very lightly dampened cloth and wipe the pages of all the books. This will remove dirt, mold, and other nasty little grime around the pages, the spine, the covers, etc.

For the project of removing the actual smell of the book, you'll want to start with a large covered bin of some sort, an old garbage can, a plastic tub, or a small pail will work just fine. Please keep in mind that it'll be in use for a fairly long time though and you'll need to be able to fit another smaller bin inside of it.

You'll want to put several inches of an odor absorbing material at the bottom of the bin you choose. By odor absorbing material I mean anything that is known to absorb stinky smells; such as kitty, litter, charcoal or baking soda.

Now place a smaller pail of any sort inside the "smell absorbing bin", place a handful of books (or whatever will fit) inside of the smaller bin, and place a cover or a lid over the top of the smell absorbing bin.

It's that easy, all you need to do now is sit and wait. I suggest checking on the book and it's smell level every couple of days or so until you no longer can smell the stench. It may take a week or maybe even a month, but that stink you once dreaded will dissipate and you'll be left with a wonderful book to add to your library.

If you decide to give this method a try, let me know how long it took your book to smell better... Here's to the reading of books that don't smell for many years to come!