Question Mold on photographs

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copper

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I have a client who has a couple of family photographs that came from a very humid environment and have some mold on the emulsion surface (and perhaps the back). This is a relatively dry environment, but I am wondering what steps (if any) I should take before re-matting and framing?

What would you recommend?

Regards,
Dean
 
I would make sure that you get a real good scan of them as soon as possible. The photo might not be recoverable, but you can save whats left of the image. I would not try to remove the mold myself, but would refer to a photo conservation service.
I would not put these back in a frame without treatment to kill the mold. The spore is still viable and will infest the new matting and mounts.
 
Mold need to be removed or it will continue to grow. Use professional restoration company. We do this all the time.
 
It would be hard to say what to do without actually seeing the piece, but if the piece stays in RH lower than,say ,60% the present mold should remain inactive. (The usual danger point is 65% but previously infected pieces are a bit more vulnerable.) Also, active or not, mold is an allergen, and sensitivity increases with exposure.

It is all in the environment, as mold spores are everywhere, visible or not. Removal of loose mold might be as simple as soft brushing into nearby hepa vacuum but, if the emulsion has been damaged, you should contact a paper or photograph conservator to avoid further mechanical damage via brush etc.

Wally lives in a place with high RH much (all?) of the year, so he would need to be on guard against mold on a daily basis, unlike someone living in a desert area. The general geographic environment and specific display/storage environment will have a great bearing on whether your client's mold starts growing again or not.

Here is some general info: http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/crc/articles/mould-moisissures/index-eng.aspx
 
Sorry for the Frankenthread...we think the humidity is low when it falls below 80%!
 
High humidity is all year round in my place. We help our customer to scan these old photos, we do retouch and reprint them almost every week.

Mold on photograph give us good business.
 
When we had our fire in our store, we had many instances of mold on customers' artwork, including photographs, because of the water-damage from the fire department and the couple of weeks sitting in the wet conditions before the insurance company would let us go in and rescue the customers' work.

I decided to spray Lysol on the molding artwork, because Lysol kills mold and mildew. When my Professional Restorer came into the picture, I sheepishly told him what I had done, because I had no knowledge that Lysol was a good thing, but that it "killed mold and mildew bacteria." I had no idea what "after effects" it might have to the artwork.
He was HAPPY! I had doen a Good Thing using Lysol.

Anyone have a problem with using Lysol for mold control?

Wendy
The Art Corner
Salem, MA
 
The only bad thing I have heard about Lysol which has made me stop using it around my moldy house is that it is VERY TOXIC to felines.

I use something I got from one of those Natural product places called X-158 Mildew Control. It keeps mold and mildew at bay for up to six months (except for the really moldy oldies in my house which have to be treated every two or three months). Leather, wood, etc. Never tried it on paper.
 
Well, Lysol would not be a first choice because who knows what is in it. Drying is the first step for any mold situation.

Humidity levels are reduced and air flow optimized with fans etc. for the general environment; art etc can be removed to a safe dry area for dryout and possibly later cleaning if necessary.

Large scale water disaster recovery is a whole 'nother topic which we might start a thread on tomorrow... I'm sure others will like to initiate this, I'm out of town:)
 
I wonder what Lysol would do a photograph? Nothing good, I would guess.

How old are the photographs? Unless they are old and valuable I would have them scanned and new prints of the image made.
 
Rebecca, Mildew is the Official Florida State Plant. If it only had any commercial value...
 
Thanks for the input.

A digital restoration is the obvious answer for rescuing the images and my client is going to proceed with that. They are also interested in trying to preserve the originals. Some further investigation lead me to some documents about using fumigation with Thymol for 24-72 hours to kill any spoors present.

So at this point the protocol will be to dry the photos completely with a desiccant, fumigate and re-frame using rag mats & museum glass (or acrylic)

Dean
 
The problem with thymol is that it is toxic to humans too, yellows paper, and evaporates out of paper so it is only a temporary solution, with potentially serious drawbacks.

Some recent literature mold and how to deal with it:

From Canadia Conservation Institute -

TB #26 Mould Prevention and Collection Recovery: Guidelines for Heritage Collections

Sherry Guild and Maureen MacDonald

Mould infestation in heritage collections can damage artifacts and may pose a health risk to individuals who work with these collections. This Technical Bulletin presents information on mould morphology, prevention of mould growth, actions to take should mould occur, and health effects relating to mould exposure. It informs the reader how to remove mould growth from artifacts and it describes the appropriate personal protective equipment to wear when working in a mould-contaminated environment or when working with mould-infested artifacts.


Price In Canada: $20.00,
Other Countries: $25.00
paperback, 34 pp., 2004
ISBN: 0-662-35932-1
Code: 0301

The Western Association for Art Conservation's Sept 2005 Newsletter, Vol. 27 Number 3 has a large section on mold - its cause, containment and removal, disaster preparedness and wet salvage. It can be ordered for $10.00 from them http://cool.conservation-us.org/waac/othpubs.html

Thymol isn't recommended as a deactivation treatment - drying is.
 
I just came across an interesting description in "The Story of London" of how they handled mold and mildew prevention at the British Museum in the 18th century- A French visitor noted that they kept the heating on (fireplaces going) well into the warm season, for the preservation of manuscripts, maps and books.
 
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