Drying Wet Pages
Put your book in the freezer if you don’t have time to repair it now. If you need to wait a few days before starting to dry out your book, seal it in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer. This will stop any mold from growing and damaging your book pages further.
Make sure the plastic bag is airtight so that your book doesn’t pick up
any additional moisture from the freezer.
Blot the pages with a paper towel to make sure they are dry. Grab some
paper towels and insert them between the pages of your book every 10 to 20
pages. Press down on the book to soak up any residual moisture that might be
left in the pages.
Drying the book beforehand will make sure the pages don’t stick
together.
If your book has any mold on the pages, gently brush off any topical
mold spores with a clean cloth and then set your book in the sun to dry out.
Open up your book and stand it on its side. Carefully open your book pages
up until your book is open at a 45-degree angle. Stand it up on a towel so that
the pages stay fanned out. Use caution, as your book might be fragile.
Wet or water damaged books are prone to falling apart, so it’s important
to be careful when you handle them.
Point a fan at the pages to dry it out overnight. Put the fan on low so
that it doesn’t ruffle the pages of your book too much. Leave your book with a
fan pointed at it for 8 to 12 hours to ensure that it dries out all the way.
You can also set up a dehumidifier to dry out the pages even more, if
you have one.
Sandwich your book in between 2 boards. You can use whatever scrap wood
you have on hand as long as it covers the book completely. Lay the book on its
side with one board underneath it and one on top.
Plywood is a great wood to use for sandwiching your book, since it’s
pretty thin.
Place heavy items, like bricks, on top of the top board. Make sure they
are centered on the top board so your book is getting even pressure. You can
also use cinder blocks if you don’t have any bricks.Point a fan
or dehumidifier at your book to dry it out. As your book is being pressed,
you can dry it out even more by circulating the air around it. Make sure you
turn off any humidifiers in your home and close the windows so that your book
stays cool and dry. Turn on a fan or a dehumidifier and place it in front of
your book as it dries.
Try to keep your book out of the direct sunlight so that it doesn’t get
too hot.
Leave your book for 1 to 2 days. Try not to disturb your book as it
flattens out. Keep the heavy objects on top of the book for as long as you can.
If your book is still wavy, you can try leaving it pressed for longer.
Keep your book pressed flat when you store it. If you can, try to
put your book in between 2 book ends or a few other books so that it is being
continually pressed flat. This will help flatten out the pages more and make
sure your book pages stay in their new shape.
