What to Do With Water-Damaged or Moldy Books

If your books got wet, you can often save the ones you want to keep by drying or freezing them fast — and for everything else, you don't have to decide what's salvageable or throw anything away. Bring the whole lot, water-damaged and even moldy. I take it all in Albuquerque with free pickup and handle it safely; the one thing to do for your own sake is seal moldy or soaking books in a separate bag so spores don't spread to your dry books or your car. Here's how to rescue what matters and clear the rest without the guesswork.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project · Free pickup: 702-496-4214

First, save the ones you want to keep

If specific books matter to you — sentimental, valuable, irreplaceable — act fast, because speed decides whether a wet book survives. Three things drive the outcome: how wet, how long, and what kind of water. A book that got damp and was dried within a day or two usually makes it. A book soaked in clean water but caught quickly can often be dried or frozen and saved. The longer it sits wet, the more mold takes hold — so move quickly on anything you care about, and don't worry about the rest yet.

How to dry a wet book

Stand it up and fan it open. Set the book on its end, fan the pages apart, and move air across it with a fan in a dry, cool room. Air movement is what dries a book; stagnant air invites mold.

Interleave for very wet books. Slip paper towels or clean paper between sections of pages and replace them as they absorb water, working from the outside in.

Freeze to buy time. If many books are wet and you can't dry them all at once, seal them in bags and put them in a freezer. Freezing halts deterioration and mold until you can air-dry them one at a time.

Mold: protect yourself, then bag it

Mold is worth a little care — for your sake, not the book's. Spores can bother breathing, and a moldy book will spread to dry books stacked against it. So if you see fuzzy growth or smell that sharp, musty odor: don't pile the moldy books in with the good ones, don't shake them, and consider a mask and gloves if you're handling more than a couple. Then simply seal the moldy and soaking books in their own bag. That's it — you've protected yourself and your dry books, and you're done deciding.

Bring it all — even the sad-looking boxes

It's tempting to assume a water-stained or musty box is worthless and belongs in the dumpster. Don't make that call. Lightly water-marked books still read perfectly and still find homes, and even a rough-looking lot often hides something good — a book worth saving, something I can put back into circulation, or material I can handle responsibly on the back end. Whether it's a few damp paperbacks or a whole flooded storage unit, bring it; it all adds up, and nothing useful gets wasted. If this is part of clearing an estate or a flooded home, see also what to do with books after someone dies.

What I do with it

I'll come get the whole lot free anywhere in the Albuquerque metro — salvageable, water-stained, or moldy-and-bagged. The sound and lightly-marked books go back into circulation; anything genuinely valuable that survived is flagged; and I deal with whatever's truly spent so you never have to stand over a trash can deciding. You bag the moldy ones for safety, I do the rest.

Frequently asked questions

Can water-damaged books be saved?

Often, if caught fast and the water was clean — dry or freeze them. That matters most for books you want to keep; for the rest, just bring it all and I'll sort it.

How do I dry a wet book?

Stand it up, fan the pages, move cool air across it; interleave paper towels for very wet books; freeze batches to buy time. Never use heat or sun.

What should I do with moldy books?

Seal them in a separate bag for your own safety, then bring them along with everything else — I take moldy books too and handle them safely. You don't have to throw anything away yourself.