[NHCOLL-L:5158] Cleaning up mold on wood specimens

[Scott LaGreca]

Dear Colleagues,

I've found mold growing on some botanical specimens here in our museum.

These are not herbarium specimens. They are cross-sections of wood;
woody seed capsules (e.g. a lotus capsule); and similar plant
structures. The mold is surfacey; just conidia and hyphae growing over
the wood. It's not completely covering the surface--it's just present in
spots. 

I'm not even sure if these specimens are worth keeping (I don't think
they're scientifically, or otherwise, valuable; I'm going to dig into
our accession records to ascertain this).

But if I do decide to try and save them, then:
How does one go about cleaning off mold from such materials?

I realize that fungal spores are "built to last" and so freezing these
materials won't kill the mold. 
So I'm inclined to just wash the mold off carefully with an
ethanol-soaked rag and let the specimens dry.

Is this a good idea?

I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks so much in advance,

Scott LaGreca

Scott LaGreca, PhD 
Natural Science Coordinator 
Berkshire Museum 
39 South Street 
Pittsfield, MA  01201  USA 
TEL 413-443-7171, ext. 17 
FAX 413-443-2135 
slagreca at berkshiremuseum.org