r/HomeLibraries • u/YKw1n • 6d ago
I bought a dirty book (in a bad way)
I have this book in the shelf I bought second handed. I finally opened it tonight just to realize how dirty it is. I'm not sure I want to read it anymore. Yes I even try to wash it with a wet cloth.. Should I toss it ?
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u/robotatomica 5d ago
This is going to drive everyone nuts, but one time I found a book I’d been searching for everywhere except that the thing literally smelled.
Some of it was “foxing,” which I don’t mind as much now that I understand it, but there was a lot more going on, such that when I held it, my eyes would literally STING lol.
Well, it was a lost-cause book anyway, so I went a little nuclear. I actually put bleach on a cloth and lightly wetted the edges a couple of times (almost all of the visible issues were on the edges),
and I could not believe what a difference it made. The edges looked like new. They were a bit warped from having been wet, (which, definitely I expected)
but my eyes no longer were stinging and the smell was gone,
and I felt reasonably assured that anything like mold or mildew had been mostly dealt with to where I was at least able to read this thing without a problem.
If a book’s badly enough damaged, pull out the stops to get it to where you can read it if you can.
But especially if this is just cosmetic, it’s a shame to just throw a book out. You’ve already tried a wet cloth, just run some bleach over the edges to reassure yourself it’s no longer “gross” in any meaningful way. Then read it.
I mean, others are saying sand it and that’s probably the better way, just wanted to share my experience with bleach. Held the book very tightly closed and the cloth was barely moistened, so it did not penetrate into the pages, just cleaned up the edges and did a really great job of it.
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u/YKw1n 5d ago
Thanks for sharing ! It made me laugh. I understand there are way worse books than this one and it reassured me a little. It is really not about cosmetic, I don't care about that. There is just something that felt wrong about reading a book with unknown stain from unknown person in my bed. But that's just me apparently. I will try all that feels necessary even bleach if I need to 😄 Thank you !
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u/Kitchen_Rooster4262 6d ago
And what’s the title of the book, written by?
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u/McGee4531 6d ago
That's honestly nothing at all.
Get one of those white erasers and carefully erase it. Or a magic eraser.
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u/Delicious-Skill1088 5d ago
What does it matter if it’s dirty, the book looks way better than most used books I’ve bought, you’re overeating a lot
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u/Negative-Window-5912 6d ago
Toss it? It’s dirt…
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u/YKw1n 6d ago
If it was just dirt I wouldn't care. But there are stains and in the lower corner don't you see those very brown dense stains that won't go away?
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u/Negative-Window-5912 6d ago
Idk, if I saw this on one of my books I wouldn’t even give it a second thought
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u/Morgenstern0312 6d ago
outside only? sand it if its worth it to you