Do not attempt to remove dirt or mud until the material is dry. Stand books upright, slightly open and interleave books with newsprint every ten pages. Interleave coated paper every page. Use waxed paper for interleaving coated papers. Turn fans on the books and change paper towels as necessary.
Air drying is appropriate if only a few items are involved.
If over 100 items are involved a commercial service must be called and freeze drying or dehumidification begun. Manuscripts And Papers Do not separate papers as they will tear. Place on toweling and fan dry, separating stacks of materials only as they become dry. Computers And Computer Media Make certain that power is off on all involved computers. Floppy disks can be washed in distilled water but may have to be removed from their jackets, washed, dried with lint free towels and put into new covers and copied.