Disinfection of books and volumes
Disinfection is highly recommended on books infested by fungal attacks. Our intervention involves a gentle buffering of the volumes and specific products tailored to achieve the best disinfection results.
We usually employ hydro-alcoholic solutions of benzalkonium chloride in low concentration mixed with distilled water or alcohol; however, we carry out a preliminary test on books beforehand to avoid any possible damage on paper and cardboard.
At RGI, all disinfection treatments include a prior dusting of the paper material: that means all the dedusting (link a pagina Dusting) activities are always included in the disinfection treatments.
Disinfection against mould
Once we assess the key points of the intervention, we propose customers different solutions tailored to the state of conservation of their goods, for example:
- Manual external dusting with vacuum cleaners and cloths
- External disinfection by buffering with quaternary ammonium salts
- Internal disinfection of volumes
- Disinfection of shelf surfaces containing open sheets.
External disinfection
Mould generally appears on the outside of volumes, while internal mould attacks are less frequent.
External disinfection features the buffering with special products of all visible parts: the plates, spines and cuts of the book, or their equivalents in other media such as folders, files, rolls, carpets and binders.
When it comes to unbound material and loose sheets, external disinfection covers every visible surface of the substrate.
Disinfection of the outside layers not only eliminates mould on the outer parts of the media, but often improves the appearance of the paper media by removing that patina which can’t be eliminated with a professional dusting.
Good results with less expense compared to page by page disinfection guaranteed!
Page-by-page disinfection
Page-by-page disinfection includes all the pages and the accessible parts of the volumes, without disassembling them.
We browse and clean each page, taking the time and care to execute an outstanding job.
Optional dust-extractor fan
To minimize the risk of spreading fungal spores and dust, we resort, upon request, to a dust-extractor fan: by means of special access vents with sleeves for the operator’s arms, we better isolate the object from the environment outside.
Furthermore, to reduce even more the spread of spores in the working environment, in addition to the use of HEPA-filtered extractor fans and the dust-extractor fan option, upon request we temporarily install one or more ABIOS® units to continuously sterilize the atmospheric particulate present in the environment.
Cleaning and disinfection of shelves and rooms
Dust not only fuels entomological infestations but also microbiological ones.
Cleaning and sanitizing exhibition or storage rooms also helps fight all types of infestation effectively, to better preserve books and objects, and to healthier spaces for staff and visitors.
The cleaning and disinfection of rooms consists of removing dirt and dust from the floors and any surface, with particular attention to the shelves containing infested materials.