It's Time to Clean Your Books

New York Times

10-03-2025

In addition to regular dusting, do a deeper clean once or twice a year. This project will eliminate major dust buildup and allow you to check for insects. You'll also have the chance to take inventory and decide which books you want to keep and which ones you want to store, sell, or donate, said Keith LaVecchia, inventory manager at McNally Jackson Books, in an email.
To start, take your books off each shelf. Vacuum the shelf or wipe it down with a damp cloth and allow it to dry completely.
Then dust each book off before you put it back on the shelf. You have a few ways to do this, and it can be as simple as running a dry microfiber cloth over the book. To capture the most dust, you can follow a method similar to what the New York Public Library employs: Use a soft-bristled brush, such as a hake brush, to sweep the book's closed pages, angling the book toward the intake nozzle of a vacuum.
Generally, experts don't advise directly vacuuming books, except with very specialized attachments, since you can tear or bend them. If you must vacuum your books, McCarthy suggested placing cheesecloth over the hose to help reduce the suction and running the vacuum on its weakest setting.
As a conservation specialist, Fifield doesn't recommend damp-dusting books. But other experts I spoke with didn't discourage the practice completely, as long as you allow the books to dry thoroughly before reshelving them. 'Because if they're damp, they will stick to each other,' said Charles. 'You can damage the cover.' She advised using a barely damp cloth.
If you encounter mold, silverfish, or signs of other insects, such as detritus and dark specks, the affected book is not a lost cause, said Fifield.
Seal the book in an airtight bag, such as a Ziploc bag, and put it in the freezer for 72 hours. Once 72 hours have passed, remove the bag from the freezer and—this is important!—do not unseal it. Leave it sealed for another 24 hours to prevent condensation from forming, said Fifield. 'You want that condensation to be on the bag and not on your book.'
After 24 hours, you can remove the book and clean it to remove the remaining detritus. That way, 'if there's a new infestation later, you're not getting confused' about what's a new infestation and an old one, said Fifield. McCarthy said that you may need to repeat this process to address unhatched insects or larvae.
If you're removing mold, clean the book outdoors while wearing a protective mask. You can spot-clean mass-market varnished covers, as on many cookbooks, with just a damp microfiber cloth or paper towel. Here, a mysterious sticky smear, which I had thought of as permanent, disappeared with a swipe from a barely damp cloth. Katie Okamoto/NYT Wirecutter
When you're going through your books, you may also notice that some of them need spot-cleaning. The experts I spoke with differed on how heavy-duty you should get with spot-cleaning, but the general consensus was that for mass-market books that can be easily replaced, use your discernment and try the least intensive method you can first. Often, a barely damp paper towel or microfiber cloth is all you need, said Weinstein.
For stubborn grime or pen stains on mass-market book covers, particularly those with 'varnished' covers (those with a gloss), you can upgrade to Purell (recommended by Pongrace), lighter fluid (recommended by LaVecchia), or Sterling's Magic (recommended by Sartwell). All of them serve as non-water-based cleaners that dry quickly and don't allow water—the archenemy of books—to infiltrate the pages. They also don't leave behind an oily residue. They are not recommended on non-glossy books, rare books, or those with cloth or leather covers.
Avoid using tape to repair ripped covers or dust jackets, said Weinstein, as that can damage and discolor pages.
If you find yourself veering into perfectionism while you're cleaning your books, Sartwell offered a bit of perspective: 'If someday you're not here, whoever inherits your book will be happy to know that this page looks like that because it was a recipe that you loved.' Perfection is not always the aim of book care. 'If someday you're not here, whoever inherits your book will be happy to know that this page looks like that because it was a recipe that you loved,' said Matt Sartwell of Kitchen Arts & Letters. Case in point: my grandmother's cookbook. Katie Okamoto/NYT Wirecutter
But some books that are irreplaceable need TLC. In that case, consult a book conservationist before attempting to DIY, said Fifield. She recommends the American Institute for Conservation, which has a database for finding experts in your area.
As for how you should put your books back: 'If you want to organize your books by color, you can do that,' said Charles. 'If you want to organize by Dewey Decimal, you can Dewey Decimal.' If you're the tracking type, she recommends the open-source app LibraryThing, which allows you to build your own catalog.
'Basically, your home library is your expression of your intellectual passions and pursuits,' she said. 'You obviously want to take good care of it, but however you want to organize it, that works for you and your household, is great.'
Here's to you and your books. Happy cleaning.
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