Any hope for drying out wet books?

Do you live in a town of 12 or something?

Every town I've ever lived in has used bookstores. I'm guessing you could find one.

 

you really should store those damned things for another 10 years without ever looking at them.

 

That's the purpose of a high school reunion.

 

Good links, JR. Thanks.

BYH, maybe this ends up well. I'd rather not remember high school. Period. I'd trade your books for mine if it were that easy. Life happens.

 

Happened to me about 12 years ago... basement flooded, sump pump failed, yearbooks and photo albums soaked.
Some are nasty, some are OK, some are trashed. But I saved them all, dried them as beat i could and sprayed it with Lysol for the mold and mildew... They now sit in a plastic container because I can't bear the throw out my life before I was 18, no matter how fucked up it was

 

Threads like this make me wonder if a few of those plastic storage boxes would be money well spent, not to fend off flood but also humidity for those in more moist climates.

 

Here's an interesting method: Get them in the freezer ASAP.

http://theepicenter.com/tow05166.html

 

Update: I spent most of the last two hours turning each page in the yearbooks (there's also a junior high yearbook of my wife's that I have to tackle next) and blotting each page with a paper towel. I've stood them up and have them on the floor with the ceiling fan above (obviously) and another fan aimed downward at them.

I am cautiously optimistic they'll survive with some character-building waterspots and crinkles. None of the signatures have faded (some melted into the next page, but you can read them just fine). I can probably get away with keeping them since I found them right after the flood. Had I waited a day or two, it'd be all over.

Thanks for the tips (tony, I actually found that freezer one online too). Hopefully this'll just be a scary, not painful, lesson.

In related news: We looked like dorks back then. And the girls wore clothes that covered their skin!

 

Hey douchebag, tell the books you want to have sex with them. If they are female books, given your history, that should dry them up pronto.

 

What's so different now?

 

Excellent, good sir. Excellent.