Joan,

Mold, mildew, and fungi can have serious health issues so this is why I do
not recommend that anyone who has not had training and experience attempts
to "clean" objects with it present.

The conditions that give rise to mold and other fungi are moisture and
temperature. So look very carefully in the area where the hat came from to
make sure you don't have a larger outbreak.

Ideally you want to keep the temperature under 65% and the RH under 60% with
plenty of air  in circulation. I would not place the hat in a poly bag - you
could make an enclosure / envelope from soft tyvek that would allow the hat
to remain at equilibrium with the ambient room RH.

Whoever cleans this should have either a respirator or mask that
specifically filters out fungi. The first step is to vacuum the whole object
with a HEPA vacuum rated to remove mold spores. You can use a medium brush
on the problem areas - always brush towards the nozzle (and have some sheer
nylon pulled over the nozzle. Both ethanol and isopropyl alcohol (70%- 30%
in H2O) will disinfect surfaces but you have to be careful that it does not
remove dye or alter the surface (NEVER use Chlorox or Chlorine products on
collections) , especially with porous organic materials. So always test a
small hidden area first. I would gently  swab the affected areas with a
q-tip just dampened with the disinfectant.

Objects that have had mold or fungi problems will tend to have them recur,
so you really have to monitor and keep a handle on the environmental
conditions.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Senior Conservator
Los Angeles,CA

On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Joan Denman/WW2 <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

>  We recently received an item made of straw that has some dark mold and
> mildew on it. We've placed it in a polyethylene bag and separated it from
> the other straw items so that the mold does not spread, but we'd like to
> eventually display it.
>
> I have looked at the websites for the National Park Service and for
> palimpsest.*stanford*.edu/ (which is currently off-line. Currently, we do
> not have the funds to have a conservator handle it, so I'm asking for
> suggestions. I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Joan E. Denman
> Senior Archivist & Historian
> Institute on World War II
> & the Human Experience
> PO Box 3062200
> Florida State University
> Tallahassee, FL 32306-2200
> Ph: 850-644-9033
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Website: www.fsu.edu/~ww2 <http://www.fsu.edu/%7Eww2>
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