Mold

Regarding Ellen McCrady's comments of August 12th on the subject of
mold, it might be worth passing along that there are special dual filter
vacuum cleaners (Filter Queen is one brand name) designed to filter down
to about 10 microns (intended for persons allergic to pollen or other
airborne particulate allergens). While mold spores can go much smaller,
10 microns is significantly smaller than the run-of-the-mill vacuum
filtering capability.

For first-hand info (noise, difficulty in changing filters, etc.) about
using such vacuums to remove mold from library and archival materials,
contact:

  Sharon M. Gavitt, Project Conservator
  New York State Archives and Records Administration
  Cultural Education Center, Room 11D40
  Albany, NY 12230
  (518) 474-5964

There have also been proposals to use wet/dry vacuums with a fungicidal
solution (usual suggestions are alcohol or a chlorine bleach) placed in
the reservoir, but I haven't had any personal experience with this.

Stuart Kohler

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 6:16
                  Distributed: Sunday, August 23, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-16-001
                                  ***