How to Save a Flooded Book

The next morning it was pouring rain. I took an umbrella with me on my morning walk, and it was only on the way back—several hours into a storm—that I noticed my favorite workout diary lying on a rack in the driveway, where I had left it after a distraction. while cleaning up after a workout the night before. My diary was completely, completely saturated .

As I wrote earlier, the only reason I record my workouts in a notebook (rather than registering them in the app) is so that I can own content that will never get stuck in the cloud if I forget my password. I can go back to see how my workouts went in the past. History is important to me. And suddenly my training history for three months turned into a wet stack of paper, which, perhaps, cannot be saved. But I had to try.

Listen to the librarians

If you want to know how to handle wet books, ask your librarian. Entire volumes have been written about what to do with the library collection after a flood or fire. This archived page from Cornell was what I used as my guide.

There is also a book, Procedures for Rescuing Water Damaged Library Materials, full of helpful tips, including what to do if books get dirty and that you can monitor the drying progress by periodically weighing the book; will lighten as it dries. Unfortunately, I only found this book after I had nearly finished rescuing my own, but it may not be too late for you.

Oh, and another important observation from The Procedures for Rescue : If you can replace a damaged book, it will almost always be cheaper than trying to repair it. My training diary may be indispensable, but if you drop a paperback novel in the pool while on vacation, you’re probably better off buying another copy.

First, stop the damage

The first thing I had to do when I found a wet book was to get it out of the rain. Wet paper is soft, so do it carefully. Librarians note that if the books are not dried immediately, mold may appear on them. So if you can’t start the drying process later – or if you have so many damp books that you have to process them in batches – you can freeze them. This will stop mold growth and buy time.

Heat can also encourage mold growth, so unless the air is very dry, use fans to encourage air circulation at room temperature rather than trying to heat the book while drying.

Transform it from “wet” to “moist”.

Drying a thoroughly soaked book is a multi-step process. Cornell’s page details what you need to do in stages, so you can start with what best reflects the status of your book.

Since mine was completely soaked, I knew I needed to start drying it without worrying about individual pages. Cornell’s page says to keep the book closed, but put cardboard between the covers and pages to allow air to circulate. Stand up straight if you can. (Books tend to sag towards the bottom in normal storage, so the rule of thumb is to place a book upside down so that any sagging occurs in the opposite direction.)

Although I did not go according to the script from the very beginning. Due to the fact that the book was so wet, and since it was opened when hit in this way, and thus the pages were completely soaked, I thought it would be wise to squeeze the water out of the book, since I saw some (not librarians)) websites suggest compress or shake. I took the rolling pin, closed the book and rolled out the water. It was effective in removing water, but looking back, I found a lot of unwanted creases in the pages that I couldn’t remove easily. If I had to do it again, I would gently press the open book with my hands and move on.

One way to improve library instructions: Because I only had one book and wasn’t tied to library equipment, I took the first few steps on my front porch. We have one of those bistro-style tables with a wire mesh top so that water can drip off the book without having to constantly change the towels or paper underneath. I also had a box fan that I installed right in front of the book. So far, so good.

Dry thoroughly

The next step was to put absorbent paper (I used paper towels) between the pages, but only every 20 pages or so. Fortunately, there was no need to insert paper between each individual page.

At this point, I discovered that the paper attaching the cover to the book block (the pages are called a block) was so soft that it tore when I opened it. (Perhaps I should have let the book dry a little longer before attempting this.) However, librarians point out that books that are so “completely wet” that they warp should simply be rebound when dry.

That night, the pages were dry enough to remove the paper towels. I carried the book indoors and set it upside down on a towel, fanning out the pages. I kept my fan pointed at him, but I made sure the breeze was soft enough not to flutter the pages.

Smooth it out

The next day the pages were dry to the touch but still felt soft. They were a little wrinkled, but not much, which seemed like a sign that I was doing well so far. The next step was to flatten the book.

The covers didn’t want to close properly (still a little puffy), so I left the front cover open, positioned the book block so everything was at right angles, and placed a block of wood on top, adding 88-. pound kettlebell on top of that for good measure. (You can also place a stack of books or household items on top if that’s what you have.) I pointed my fan at her.

The next day, the book was in good enough condition to put the restoration process on hold. It wasn’t 100% dry, but it was dry to the touch and the pages were even. I leafed through the magazine and everything was legible! It was a real victory; Luckily, I used the Uni-ball Signo 207 Waterproof Pen.

When I first saw the waterlogged notepad, I didn’t even want to use it again; I just wanted to be able to read my old stuff. But I took it to the gym yesterday, still a little soft but with duct tape to help the lid stay on. He held up pretty well. I call it success.

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