House had water in it for 10 days - how to save books, clothes, pictures?

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GasAg90
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6:21p, 9/10/17
Howdy Ags,
House had 3 ft of water in it for about 10 days due to Addicks and Barker reservoir release and we are just now being let back in.

Obviously anything that was under or touching water is toast. The main issue is mold.

I have a large number of books and photographs that were above the floodline. What is the protocol for saving these items?


Clothes? I have convinced myself that I wouldnt want to wear them again, but I wanted to get other opinions.

Any other thoughts or advice in regards to my situation.

Thanks,

Gas Ag
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momlaw
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8:12p, 9/10/17
AG
Here's the FEMA page, though very dated: https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2003/09/27/tips-saving-water-damaged-valuables-and-heirlooms

This is Houston Public Media, 2016:https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/06/06/155487/how-to-save-flooded-family-heirlooms/

This is 6 days ago your local news coverage: http://abc13.com/home/protecting-heirlooms-while-recovering-from-flooding/2374377/

Smithsonian 2016: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-save-family-heirlooms-natural-disasters-180960726/

My roots foundation 2016: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-save-family-heirlooms-natural-disasters-180960726/

God bless and good luck.
momlaw
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Texaggie7nine
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9:45a, 9/11/17
Saw a news story on one of the local channels about clothes. They said any clothes left in a house that had water for more than a day should all be disposed of. The mold spores most likely cannot be washed out.
7nine
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P.H. Dexippus
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9:58a, 9/11/17
AG
http://www.concrobium.com/how-to-fight-mold/materials-surfaces/clothing/
The story isn't that [DeSantis] "couldn't win" the primary. The story is that an overwhelming majority of our population is heinously stupid. 50% of them vote for communists. 75% of the remaining 50% vote for Trump, who cant win. When the majority of the opposition party insists on voting for an opposition candidate who can't win, you get exactly the government you deserve. - Well Endowed Ag
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MouthBQ98
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2:47p, 9/13/17
AG
Depends on if you are allergic to mold or not. Mold spores are airborne everywhere all the time, just in very low concentrations. In an area that has sat damp for a while, if mold has grown, there may be much more, but they won't be a problem if they never sit in conditions conducive to their growth.

Launder the heck out of your clothes and they may be ok, so long as mold itself hasn't grown on them much. Mostly the smell is what concerns people, again, unless you are allergic to the spores.
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GasAg90
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6:47p, 9/14/17
Thanks for replies -

For anyone interested in how this turned out I brought some clothes back that had not been in standing water and when I laid them out in the sun there was mold everywhere. I was surprised how wet they were without ever actuallyh being in the water. Between that and the stench I decided to trash all clothing. There could have been a small chance that a few might have been salvaged but i didn't want to be reminded of the smell in the future.

I also brought back a couple boxes of books and the story was the same. I was especially woried about getting mold out of the books. Ultimately I saved six books, three of which were Bibles.

Some things high up on the walls were salvageable. Using a bleach water misting to arrest any unseen mold colonies I think I have these items decontaminated.

Same with some framed photos. I removed them from frames wiped them with Lysol.

Final tally of things salvaged where 14 photos, 6 books, and about 10 miscelanious items that have been in the family.
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coopers hawk
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7:14p, 9/19/17
In case you have anything else you'd like to try to save:

https://www.mfah.org/calendar/saving-what-you-can-recovery-and-stabilization-of-flood/201709230900AM?utm_source=social&utm_medium=09192017&utm_campaign=facebook
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Rachel 98
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8:29a, 9/22/17
AG
I came down to Katy last weekend to help out gutting houses for a couple of days. The first day I worked in three houses, one of which had just been opened up by the home owner that day and had gotten about 2-3' of water at one point but was nearly dry by the time we went in. I think I am going to throw away the jeans and shirt I wore in there - after washing three times in hot water and with bleach I still can't get the smell out. Obviously I wore clothes that I don't care about, but it was just very surprising to me that the smell was that pervasive.

Rachel
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threecatcorner
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2:09a, 10/5/17
Here is a page with some tips on dealing with mold.

http://www.themoldsource.com/mold/tips.html
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