Hey there,
Soon I’ll be moving and I have a lot of books.
The apartment I’m leaving came with paper fish and I would love to leave them there.
I’ve been given to understand that freezing items below -15 C (5 f) for extended periods of times will kill the eggs, nymphs and adult specimen.
My freezer handles -18 C (-0.4 f), so I was hoping to use it to “sterilise” my books with a cold treatment (48 hours?) before moving them to the new place.
My biggest worry is damaging my books! I’ve read through internet discussions about putting them in ziplocks and including silica packages to deal with the moisture, but little to now follow up on its effectiveness.
Does anyone have advice on this? How can I freeze my books while minimising or preventing any damage due to freezing/thawing and wetness?
Other tips and methods are welcome to!
The paper fish have been driving me crazy and I since I have hundreds of books this will be quite an undertaking.
by PentaOwl
2 Comments
No idea, but good luck!
Do you have a dehumidifier? If so, I would try putting the books in a room with the dehumidifier on for a few days. Then bag them up (inside the low humidity room) in well sealed ziplocks with silica packets in them. Then freeze. Maybe keep them in the bag for a few days after they come out of the freezer to allow them to come back up to room temperature without condensation or something along those lines.
I’ve never done anything like this but it seems like it might work.