Tip #19: Red rot is preventable, but not reversible

When you’re unfamiliar with historical preservation, the precautions we take seem like a lot of work (and money) for *potential* risks. You might even find yourself asking wondering, do you really need to be *that* careful? So today we’re going to take a look at one of the worst case scenarios caused by not monitoring your storage environment: red rot.

Red rot is the process of your nice 19th and 20th century leather turning into red (or orange) dust that stains everything around it. (Check out the second picture for an example.) Without getting too far into the chemistry, red rot is caused by certain kinds of tanning and bookbinding processes that make the leather acidic and more likely to convert to bleaching agents. Uh oh! And worst of all, the process is irreversible. Double uh oh!

Don’t want your leather bound book to turn to red dust? Monitor the temperature and humidity.

But what if it’s too late? Once you’ve fixed the environmental problems, the best thing you can do is wrap the book experiencing red rot in acid free paper to prevent the residue from staining nearby materials. If you’re looking to replace the leather, contact a conservator.

Want to learn more about other threats facing your book collection? Check out our webinar on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUZnW3sA-kI

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