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

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