Need Help Removing The Bad Odor From My Albums

I just purchased a stamp collection but the albums have an odor. Any advise to remove that odor will be appreciated.

Thank you

You can build a positive pressure filtering cardboard box by using a muffin fan and a cat box activated carbon filter.

12 Volt muffin fan = $8.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fan-Muffin...280293581343

Activated carbon filter = $1.50 each
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Pieces-A...153603600466

Mount filter in side of box, place album, in box, mount fan on other side of box. Seal box well to prevent air flow from anywhere but the carbon filter. Use 12V power supply (any old 12V supply will work) or battery pack to power fan.
Takes about 48 hours to remove all smells.

Don

Sounds like you have mold. I doubt you will ever eradicate the smell completely.

You might try burying the albums in kitty litter for a few days.

Extraordinary !

Can you say what odor, exactly? If it's a musty, mildewy smell, with the other treatments suggested, you might also put in in a plastic bag with a couple silica gel packs, the bigger ones, not the little food package ones unless you have loads of them. The moisture absorbing effect will get rid of the bugs that are producing the smell.

Remove the smell by replacing the albums with new, maybe.

I've had some luck with the following:
Find a box large enough to hold the album upright as it would sit on a shelf.
Fan the pages out loosely.
Place a bowl of cat litter (or even coffee grounds) inside the box but next to the album.
Close the box lid and let sit for 1-7 days.

Feel free to check every day or so and see if the smell has diminished enough to use the album yet.

If a week isn't enough, you can try replacing the litter/coffee, but after a second week you'd probably have to replace the album instead.

The best probably is to replace the albums but the stamps have the odor too.

I love Dons idea for simplicity and the science.

I am going to elaborate about a great way to improve on the cardboard box and massive amounts of tape that would probably be required for repeated use.

Just make it from a plastic sealable container, with the snap closure watertight lid and make up a filter holder to slide in replacement filters. Then with the fan on one end, and a rack in bottom to allow air all around it, and filter on other end the air will move over and around the item well. Aaerator/deodorizer Chamber. As a matter of fact you could put in desecant as another member mentioned or put in a cup or so of instant ground coffee to help deodorize and absorb any moisture, leaving things odor free. Stamps and album would no doubt be better off for it. And the box could always come in handy for a lot of other things.

Addition: And you can always mount a shortwave UV light inside the box and activate on for a couple hours to sterilize/ kill any living bacteria!


Ps: got an old computer lying around, you just got yourself a muffin fan from the power supply or the case cooling fan. Can be purchased a lot of clearance places for about $3.00 these days. And everybody has an old 12 volt adapter they had from powering cell phones to battery chargers for drills, etc. And that can be purchased at the bargain stores for about $2-$3

I've had good luck putting slightly musty albums into a large plastic storage box into which I've poured a box or two of baking soda. It absorbs odors. I put the opened album above the landscape of baking soda lying on some small plastic containers or some other supports to keep it out of the baking soda below. And I spray into the box some odor-killing spray without any odor itself. If you use air freshener with an odor, your album will smell like the air freshener which you don't want. I leave the album in there for a few weeks passively -- no fan involved, though one might be helpful. Usually the odor is much reduced or gone by then. Might not work with strong mildew or mold smells, though. Those pages would have to be replaced. Mildew or mold can harm stamps, in any case.

Another success I've had is to put a mildew smelling album in the direct sunlight. The UV rays kills the mold or mildew. You'll have to open the album up, weight the edges of the pages down so they don't blow around, and you'll have to turn the pages periodically (and hope for no rain!) but it actually does work. And be careful of any stamps mounted on the pages so they don't blow away. Obviously a nice calm day is best. It works for me. Sunlight is powerful stuff.

I like the carbon filter idea, but I don't think you have to buy a special fan to do this. Any strong fan that can push or pull air will work. Direct the airflow into the box through a hole with the outflow going out through the opposite hole covered with the carbon filter on the other side of the box. The airflow doesn't know what's making it move. That way you can use any small household fan plugged into a wall socket.

Coffee seems to absorb odors pretty well, too, and could be poured in a box with the album inside it for a few days or weeks. Decaf or regular -- it doesn't matter.

Don't be tempted to spray album pages with air freshener or any other product. You'll ruin them. And don't try using a microwave oven! I did once. thinking maybe it would kill mildew. It just melted most of the stamp mounts. Not a pretty picture. Yes, I should have tried only one page.