Perhaps a good old-fashioned remedy wiill do. *APPLE CIDER VINEGAR* is a highly effective deoderant, if you use the "live" vinegar. Unpasteurized vinegar contains odor-eating enzymes. Leaving an open container, like a bowl, of fully concentrated vinegar in the vault for about 24 hours just might do it. The very best brand I know of is Bragg's. The bottle must say "With the Mother" on it; that's the live, enzymatic stuff that will cure all that ails you. : ) Another remedy is leaving an open container of *ammonia* overnight for the very same effect -- to absorb or neutralize organic odors--but I'm not sure if ammonia and fragile documents mix, are you? The vinegar is your best bet. Good luck. Kim Steffgen Ellen Carrlee wrote: > Hi Folks, > > Please forgive cross-postings. > > Sort of Halloween-themed! Our Juneau City Hall has a stinky old vault > where old city documents are kept. Old leather-bound journals of tax > rolls, city meeting notes in plastic binders, audiotapes, etc. The > 10'X 15' room is all concrete with thick walls, a big heavy > door...typical old bank vault. Probably dates from the late 1950s or > early 60s. No carpet, just bare concrete walls and floor, some wooden > shelves and some metal filing cabinets. No obvious moisture. Employees > and their union complain of a strong musty "old book" smell, and > attribute respiratory and eye problems to the smell in the vault. The > vault is opened only briefly every day, since there are three people > who work near it and complain of the odor. Attempts to air it out or > find a source of obvious mold or moisture have failed, as has an > attempt to put an ozone generator in the vault for a couple of > weekends. They are now asking my museum for ideas. I'm checking to see > if my colleagues have suggestions or had similar experiences. > > Thanks very much! > > Ellen Carrlee > > Curator of Collections and Exhibits > > Juneau-Douglas City Museum > > Private Objects Conservator > > ========================================================= Important > Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail > message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message > should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).