My husband has severe dust mite allergies, and I think my three full bookshelves are contributing. There’s just no realistic way for me to keep all of my books dust free. I’ve considered getting rid of my books entirely because it’s so bad, but I have so many signed editions and exclusive editions, and so many of these books have been with me since I was a kid.
My current idea is to individually vacuum seal each book. My hope is that if I do that, it’ll prevent dust from reaching the pages, and then if I want to read a book I’ll just cut it open and reseal it when I’m done. Theoretically it should be easier to dust three shelves of plastic bricks with books inside than to dust each books pages individually.
Does anyone here have any experience with this? I’ve never vacuum sealed anything before, so I have no idea if this is a realistic plan to attempt or not. Any advice or input would be appreciated!!!
by littleautisticmess
17 Comments
Soft furnishings, carpets, and curtains will contribute to your husband’s woes more than your books, and sealing books comes with its own problems.
I’d recommend cleaning each book carefully with a soft brush (child’s toothbrush will do) and then store your books in a shelved cabinet with glass doors.
You could do that. I added glass doors to my bookcases and when I dusted I noticed a significant reduction of dust in there. I would think it would be easier to put them into a tote rather than vacuum seal each book but I look for the lazy way first every time…
I agree with the other commenters – my first choice would be cabinet doors. Second choice, tote boxes.
Also an air purifier
Have you guys considered a high end air purifier? I have five shelves of books in my bedroom and my brother gave me one to help with the dust. It worked like a charm and helped to cut down on both the allergies and dust in my room.
You could use polypropylene book bags instead. Easy to reseal/tape. Just make sure your humidity doesn’t frequently go over 65%, or they can hold moisture and contribute to mold growth.
Just as an alternative you can consider putting them in zip lock freezer bags. I do this for some comic books I collect for sentimental reasons and e.g. can place 12 (a years worth) exactly in a 3 liter bag. This keeps them safe for storing. Doing this for about 20 years now and never saw any negative effect. With the zip lock you also have less hassle retrieving one and resealing.
Side note, as other posters mentioned an air purifier might also be part of your solution.
Work with someone who makes fine sawdust all day long.
Glass doors on his display cabinet cuts down dusting to near 0.
Also yea, air purifier. Take a 20″ box fan and a 20″ furnace filter and tape the two together for an ultra cheap and easy one, see if that helps, if it does, when the 20″ box fan dies buy a proper air filter unit (or build one that takes furnace filters)
If you have central air, consider upgrading to the 20″ x 20″ x 4″ deep filters and get the high quality HEPA rated ones. (And get your ducts cleaned occasionally)
I second the ideas of air purifier, etc. Also if you have carpet & can get rid of it, do so, you will not beli the difference. Sealing in an airtight back could cause mold, other issues – museums don’t archive in airtight boxes for reasons.
Also the cost!! Cheaper to get glass front cabinets & they’ll look great.
You’re just gonna end up with dusty vacuum sealed bags.
Just dust your books or buy closed bookshelves.
A lot of people are suggesting getting new shelving, but shelving can also be really expensive.
It may look a little tacky, but something you could consider is wrapping your whole shelf/book case instead of individual books. I’ve done this before to protect a collection of Analee dolls, which are dust magnets and near impossible to clean.
I went to my local fabric store and got big sheets of clear vinyl and also sticky-back velcro tape. I lined the edges of the shelves with the velcro tape and then attached the vinyl over the front, essentially closing in the entire cabinet. It kept everything out of the shelves, and I only occasionally had to wipe down the big vinyl sheet. The plus side is that if you want to access anything, it’s just velcro. Open it up, grab what you need, and close it again.
If the books are that big of a problem just put them in a plastic tub with a latching lid. Filling your shelves with vacuum sealed books will look trashy and create a mountain of plastic waste.
So I had severe allergies, including dust mites, I went and saw an allergist and got the shots, it was the best thing ever. I no longer had to take an allergy pill daily, I could pet the dog without immediately washing my hands. I could mow the yard without my face swelling. Life has been good, and that was twenty years ago. Now I hear they have drops for under your tongue or maybe something better. I think your resources may be better spent on your husband than fixing your books. And thats about the only time I’ll say that 😁
You can make “curtains” for your bookshelves. Using a twin flat sheet is the easiest way to do this (Walmart sells single sheets).
Otherwise dust that’s getting stirred up from the floor or furniture is a likely culprit as well.
Half Price Books does a plastic book jacket thing with their older books and I wonder if you could just make or buy something like this. It still keeps the dust off but isn’t airtight.
What I did in my last house was place some table runners on the top of my books. The dust jackets don’t really collect dust, just the pages. This way, my books looked nicr, and it helped a lot,I would just wash them as needed.
Have you tried a powerful HEPA filter or three? I’ve got one in each bedroom and a larger one in the living area. The husband hasn’t had a sneezing fit since I got the first one.
I’ve got over a thousand books. 🫢
I don’t think vacuum sealing will be good for the books long term.
I agree with everyone who says doors on the bookshelves. You can pick up IKEA billy bookshelves used pretty easily and IKEA makes doors for them. Give them a good dusting when you transfer them over.
A good quality air purifier helped my stuffy kid a LOT as well. We use BlueAir.