Really old paper for card making
 

Hi, I just picked up some old books from the recycling center. One is an old church hymnal, one is an encyclopedia from 1963 and the last is a 100 year old medical dictionary. I am thinking I should seal the books in a bag for a few weeks to make sure any bugs die off before I bring them in the house. Any thoughts? Is anyone paranoid like me? I plan to use the paper on cards. Thanks

I personally would not worry about it. I've not used old books for making cards, but have bought lots and lots of books at used book stores, thrift stores, estate sales, etc. I've never worried about something bad being in the books - and have never found anything bad either.

On the other hand, I keep looking for that $100 bill that someone forgot they put in the book - haven't found that either! :)

I love old pages for cards.....and yes, I even use them for scrapbooking too!

I wouldn't worry about any bugs either. They may smell musty so in fact I would leave them open to air out. They will make gorgeous vintage cards :) good score!

Someone once gave me some really old books and I got silver fish from them! Silver fish eat paper and they were all over my scrapbook paper, cardstock, other books, etc. I had to spray to kill them. So yes, you can actually get bugs from old books. I use lots of old books in my collage art and I'm very careful now, check the pages and covers for tiny black holes.

You can bag them and put them in the freezer, that might help kill off anything.

Would it hurt the paper if you put the books in a ziploc bag and sprayed bug spray in it before closing the bag? I'd be afraid of getting silverfish from the books as another posted has already said.