Restoring my Used Books
As many romance readers do, I tend to buy quite a number of my romances second-hand. The shape they arrive in can vary dramatically. Now I read most of by books in bed, which means I am finicky about anything that might have gotten stuck to the books’ covers and between their pages. So any used book that arrives at Chez Horstmann has to undergo the following procedure: (a) being entered in my computer databases, (b) gentle cleaning of the covers with a damp cloth, (c) repairing of edges and loose pages with bookbinders’ glue, (d) removal of stickers or residue of stickers (with solvent that smells so nasty that I only do this work standing by the open window), and (e) removal of food, hairs and other stuff that has been gotten stuck between the pages (I once got a book which had dozens of long grey hairs on each page for about 50 pages. Yuck!). Fortunately, I do not came across nasty stuff exclusively: I left the single pressed violet I found, because it was so romantic.
With most books, I am fine after that. But there’s one evil I can’t fight this way: Smoke. Now I accept every smoker’s right to smoke while reading a book and then selling it online unconditionally – I just wish those books wouldn’t end up with me. I find it impossibly to enjoy a book while whafts of old smoke rise into your face with each page I turn. And it is extremely difficult to get rid of the smoke.
While I was still living in my old flat, I used to put such a book on the radiator, open pages turned down, and then I would turn a couple of pages each day until most of the smell was gone. Brutal, but effective. These days, I have floor heating. I have put my greatly anticipated, but terribly smelly copy of Elizabeth Elliott’s The Warlord on the towel radiator in the bathroom, but even that is not as hot as my old radiators were, and it takes very long to de-smoke even a single page.
Have you any suggestions how to get rid of smoke in used books? What bothers you most about the state of second-hand books that you buy? Anything really horrible (or any great treasures) you’ve ever found in one of them?
Hello I am new to AAR and just discovered this thread.
I also use the kitty litter but I add a bit of baking soda to it. I put this in a plastic food container with a tight seal then put the book on top. I put it away and in a week to three weeks the smokey smell is gone. If the smell is really intense I’ve changed the litter and given it a bit more time. I’ve also bought a book dusting brush from broadart.com (I’m sure other library supply catalogs also carry them) and I use it to clean out any dust from the kitty litter.
The dusting brush also works well with any crumbs or things found in used books. By the way this worked for small box of books I got that smells like moth balls.
Bessie, what an ingenious idea!
Many libraries use Kitty litter to eliminate the smell in books (especially that of smoke). We put about ½ cup or so of kitty litter (generic store-brand ) into a large baggie and put the book in. We seal the baggie, shake the kitty litter around the book, and let it sit for about a week. We then take it out. There is hardly had any smell left and that would probably be reduced further if you changed the kitty litter and left the book in the bag longer. The kitty litter leaves the books a bit dusty and there are granules of litter in the book, but with some good shaking and wiping, no one will be the wiser.
I’ve tried the outdoor thing with some floss that I received (I cross stitch) that was smokey and it worked for that.
I also received a box of Hannah Howell books that I was so disappointed because the smelled of smoke – so I put a dryer sheet in the box and closed it back up…It helped some too.
I once thought myself very fortunate to find four Keri Arthur hardcover books at a library book sale. It wasn’t until I got them home that I discovered that the person who’d donated them liked patchouli. A LOT. My mother came up with the idea of buying Febreze fabric softener sheets, putting the books in a paper grocery sack with a few of the sheets, and letting them sit there a few days. It seemed to help with the smell.
This is a great incentive to buy new. Yuck on other people’s cooties.
My problem is with books that reek of perfume. I don’t come across this often with second-hand books I buy, but there is someone who borrows the same books as I do from the library and spritzes them with her perfume or sprays herself in their vicinity (forty or fifty times!). Perfume makes me physically ill and exacerbates my asthma, but it’s so disheartening to get, say, the new JD Robb in hardcover and have to send it back to the library unread because it smells like eau de yuck!
And yes, I have complained.
MJ, I’ve tried your method, but it didn’t help as much as I wanted. Thanks anyway!
MaryK, I will definitely give this a try as soon as I get the next smoky book. Thanks a lot for the suggestion!
For smoky or otherwise nasty smelling books: Stick newspaper between the pages (doesn’t have to be every page, maybe every 20 or so), wrap the whole book in newspaper, and shut it up somewhere for a few days. Do a sniff test and repeat with fresh newspaper as needed. The smell comes off on the newspaper.
I’ve had very good results with this.
One of my students brought me a box of smoky books. I set them outside on a warm sunny day and that seemed to help.
I’ve definitely gotten my share of smoky books, but I’ve also found a few treasures. I have a Julia Quinn novel that came with beautiful blank postcards of Venice, and I once got a good Starbucks coupon in a Harlequin Historical.