Elder Care Tips: Cleaning Your Parents’ Books

Elder Care in Riverhead NY

Helping your aging loved ones keep their home clean, fresh, and comfortable is an important part of your elder care plan. By making sure that their home environment is clean and healthy, you protect their physical health and well-being, but also support their mental and emotional health. Knowing the simplest and most effective ways to handle each of the cleaning tasks you face helps you handle these tasks as quickly as possible so you can maximize your time and get the best results.

One of the more confounding tasks you may face while cleaning your parents’ home is cleaning their books. Many seniors have large collections of books, from novels to cookbooks, but often overlook the need to clean them. Without regular cleaning, books can accumulate large amounts of dust, dirt, bacteria, hair, and mildew, which can contribute to respiratory issues and other illnesses as well as decrease the life of the book.

You or your aging loved ones’ elderly health care services provider should make sure that books and the shelves where they are kept are dusted regularly to fend off major accumulations, but more thorough cleaning should be performed at least once every six months for large collections and once a year for smaller collections. This extends their lifespan, keeps the home cleaner, and gives you the opportunity to weed out books that your parents no longer need so that you can donate them and free up some space in the house.

Use these tips to safely and effectively clean your parents’ book collection:

• Use a product such as Absorbene on cloth covers to remove dust, dirt, and other particles while also absorbing excess moisture and oil that can stain the cloth

• Clean glossy covers by lightly spritzing a cleaning cloth with glass cleaner and wiping the cover, then drying it thoroughly

• Remove price stickers or other sticky adhesive with a cloth dipped in a small amount of vinegar or adhesive remover such as Goo Gone. Avoid using a sharp implement such as a knife to try to peel away the sticker as this can gouge the cover

• Remove the musty odor from books that have developed mold or mildew by tucking them into a bag or other container with baking soda or cedar chips for 10 days, then shaking or brushing the pages off

• Remove large amounts of dust from the edges of book pages by pressing the book firmly together to eliminate as much space between the pages as possible and using the bristle attachment of a vacuum cleaner to brush away the buildup

• If there are grease or oil stains on interior pages, place a piece of clean, soft white cloth between the pages, close the book, and put something heavy on top. Leave the book for several days to allow the cloth to absorb the oil before removing the cloth

• If you notice that some of your parents’ books have loose pages, apply a gentle stream of heat from a heat gun or hair dryer to melt the adhesive in the spine, the press the pages firmly back into place and allow to cool.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional elder care services in Riverhead, NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.