{"id":9374,"date":"2020-10-13T10:18:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T14:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9374"},"modified":"2020-10-14T11:15:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T15:15:31","slug":"stinky-smelly-and-funky-de-odorizing-special-collections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9374","title":{"rendered":"Stinky, Smelly, and Funky: De-odorizing Special Collections"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog post was written by Amy Sullivan, Head of Preservation Services for Mason Libraries.
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Do you ever wonder how to treat stinky smelly collections? I\u2019ve gotten a surprising number of questions via email and Instagram<\/a> about that since the pandemic started. Maybe people are trapped at home with odoriferous things or maybe the regular old book smell in the office is more noticeable once you\u2019ve been gone for a while. Either way, here are some tips and tricks for reducing that funk:<\/p>\n

Create an enclosed chamber. It needs to be large enough to hold all of the items* in question with room to spare.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need an odor-absorbing material, such as baking soda, unscented clay kitty litter, or zeolites (which can be found commercially under such product names as Gonzo). You\u2019ll also need two containers – one small enough to fit inside of the other with the lid to the larger container securely in place.<\/p>\n

Place the odor absorber in the bottom of the larger container. Place the collections materials in a smaller container and close the lid. (I\u2019ve found it useful to leave plenty of space around the items to allow for air circulation, and built my DIY chambers to accommodate that, but you can certainly use a set up as simple as one plastic trash can in another.) Check in weekly to see if the smell is gone (the time it takes will vary, and the weekly check in is a great time to refresh your odor absorber) and take your collections out of the chamber once it is.<\/p>\n

*This method is for paper based collections materials ONLY!<\/p>\n

Here are some photos of the small and large set ups I\u2019ve created in my lab for this purpose, including their component parts. (With a cameo by our resident handyman and Oral Historian, Bob Vay!)<\/p>\n

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Follow SCRC on Social Media and look out for future posts on our Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0accounts. \u00a0To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at\u00a0speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a> or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions. Appointments are not necessary to request and view collections.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog post was written by Amy Sullivan, Head of Preservation Services for Mason Libraries. Do you ever wonder how to treat stinky smelly collections? I\u2019ve gotten a surprising number of questions via email and Instagram about that since the pandemic started. Maybe people are trapped at home with odoriferous things or maybe the regular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":9379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,121,784],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-9374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-scrc-picks","category-studentreflections","tag-preservation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/odor3.jpg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-2rc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8429,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8429","url_meta":{"origin":9374,"position":0},"title":"Adventures in Preservation","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"May 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Amy Sullivan, Preservation Officer\u00a0for George Mason University Libraries. You can follow Amy's adventures in preservation on Instagram @gmupreservation. SCRC sent items from Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection to be de-framed by Amy and her student, and she noted this document made of parchment that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Capture3-1.jpg?fit=674%2C419&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Capture3-1.jpg?fit=674%2C419&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Capture3-1.jpg?fit=674%2C419&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9579,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9579","url_meta":{"origin":9374,"position":1},"title":"Preservation and Conservation at Work","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"June 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was originally written for the George Mason University Libraries' news blog, which you can find here. In the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), or in any archives for that matter, you hear the words preservation and conservation tossed around a lot \u2013 and for good reason! 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Sure, you can buy them, but you can also make them. And if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GMU Fairfax Campus"","block_context":{"text":"GMU Fairfax Campus","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=272"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pw18.png?fit=720%2C268&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pw18.png?fit=720%2C268&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pw18.png?fit=720%2C268&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pw18.png?fit=720%2C268&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":644,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=644","url_meta":{"origin":9374,"position":4},"title":"Not Just Another Library Preservation Video!","author":"Bob Vay","date":"April 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As you know, this week is National Library Week, and George Mason University Libraries and Special Collections & Archives has teamed up to create a video to educate library users on the proper care of library materials. This latest installment in what has become a a cottage industry among hip\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"poster_04_centered2","src":"https:\/\/specialcollections.files.wordpress.com\/2009\/04\/fundamentals_poster.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6392,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6392","url_meta":{"origin":9374,"position":5},"title":"Constructing Preservation Enclosures: Double Tray Book Boxes","author":"Amy Sullivan","date":"May 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Constructed in the clamshell style, book boxes built like those described below completely enclose the volumes housed inside of them, providing support and protection to items with fragile or damaged bindings or covers. Custom cut individually to fit each specific item, these enclosures consists of three basic parts: a lower\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rare Books"","block_context":{"text":"Rare Books","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=326"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/161108-alcts-pw17_16bug-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/161108-alcts-pw17_16bug-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/161108-alcts-pw17_16bug-01.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/161108-alcts-pw17_16bug-01.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/161108-alcts-pw17_16bug-01.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/101014"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9374"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9383,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9374\/revisions\/9383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}