Advice On Musty Scott Album

Hi all,

I recently purchased a used (copyright 1965) Scott International Part 2 (1940-1949) album on ebay. The album is in quite good shape, but has that musty "old book" smell. My question is, can this smell be "aired out"? Should I be concerned about putting stamps in the album? Should I be concerned about this album being on my shelf next to by "good" albums?

Now I don't actively collect past 1940, but am interested in pre-1945 and have accumulated many stamps in the 1940-1949 time frame over the years and bought the album as a home for these stamps.

Options:
1) Go ahead and use the used Part 2 (note: there are no visible signs of mold/mildew, just "musty" smell)

2) Buy a new Part 2?

3) Use the album as a "guide" (don't have any post-1940 catalogs!) and just add any post-1940 stamps to my SI Vol 1 using blank quadrille pages?

Any thoughts and/or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

If you have room in your freezer, I'd seal the book in tough plastic and give it three two-week long periods of freezing cold (letting the album breathe for a week in between.) This will likely kill any mold spores that might be on the pages. The musty smell will likely dissipate with use.

OR

Get a new album.

Just don't confuse with the frozen pizza napoletana when you come in hungry ...

I've heard the freezing theory before but I'm sceptical about it. Generally freezing makes organisms dormant but then they come back to life when they warm up.

Something I tried just recently was to lay the pages into a plastic box with a lid, with a sheet of newspaper between each page. Fill up any space in the box with balls of scrunched newspaper, put the lid on and leave it for a few days.

When the pages are taken out, they smell inoffensive like newspaper, not musty or damp. I've only just done this, and so far they smell fine - I expect in the long term they will be OK.

Ringo, it's true that the freezing method improperly done can make things worse. The theory is that repeated freezing and thawing will weaken and kill the organisms. I should have emphasized this.

Thanks guys for your responses.

A quick Google search suggests setting the album up on its end in front of a fan for a few days. This will get rid of any residue moisture. Then place book/album in a sealed container with open box of baking soda for a few days.

This sounds pretty simple and might be worth a try.

Freezing will not kill it.
They are solutions that will cost way more than the value of this album

I've had luck with using activated carbon. Get a cardboard box and mount muffin fan. I force air through a 'cat box' activated carbon filter (sold at Pet Shops). It might take a few days but this will remove a lot of smells. Maintaining a dry air is also important.
Don

Not sure that putting it in a container with a box of baking soda will cost that much...

As I said, I don't see any visible signs of mold/mildew or even any signs of prior moisture, so it may just be residual smell?

On the other hand, it may not be worth the risk of spreading anything to the rest of my collection/albums.

Get a large plastic tub and put a bunch of cat litter in the bottom. Stand the book with pages fanned in the tub and put the lid on. Leave it for about a week and check. If smell is still there, repeat.

I am finding a lot of the used Scott stuff out of the US is getting to smell that way if it comes from the south or coasts. It is a very difficult smell to get rid of. Are there stamps in the album? Are they worth saving?

Personally I would file an INAD and get it returned to the seller (if from ebay). It is not worth fooling around with and will contaminate everything around it over time.

I quit buying any of the albums used unless I want the stamps and in most cases stamps that are left are common.

Huh, can I do that? How would one go about doing that?

One thing I will not do- house any of my stamps in a mildew odor album.

I've had the same problem- purchasing an International with stamps and planning to use the album, but then discovering the mildew odor. It was my fault for not doing a more through evaluation when I bought the collection. (Fool me once... ] )

Sure, try the various solutions if you wish- but if still a mildew odor...

Was it purchased on ebay and how long ago? Was it paid by Paypal?

Have you left feedback yet?

My initial reaction was the baking soda. It is a inexpensive marvelous product and I'm sure it won't hurt the album. I think your correct that left untreated it could spread.
Tom

[quote][Was it purchased on ebay and how long ago? Was it paid by Paypal?

Have you left feedback yet?/quote]

Yes, purchased on ebay on Dec 6 and paid by Credit Card. I think I did already leave feedback.