Our Services

Cost effective remediation mold damage schools, churches, library, museums, archives and private collections.

Mold Inactivation on Water Damaged Documents using Supercritical and near Supercritical CO₂

To find an environmentally friendly and non destructive cost effective restoration method of mold decontamination which effectively destroys mold and bacteria after water damage and is suitable for vellum books, paper books, documents, paper, archival records, art works and textiles. Midwest Freeze Dry has pioneered the novel use of Supercritical/near supercritical CO₂for mold inactivation after water damage and applied it on cost effective industrial scale to conserve leather books, vellum books, paper books, documents, artworks and textiles after water damage.

Our unique cost effective mold treatment is the best for leather books, vellum books, paper books, documents, artworks and textiles after water damage. Why?

Most of the commonly used mold treatments such as regular heat sterilization, methyl bromide, ethylene oxide and ozone bleaching can damage or destroy the vellum book, paper book or legal document being treated along with the mold and/or damage the environment.

At Midwest Freeze Dry no ozone bleaching or environmentally dangerous chemicals are used to treat mold on leather books, vellum books, paper books, documents, artworks and textiles after water damage and there are no harmful gasses or waste to be disposed of. Instead we have adapted a cost effective scientific freeze drying process which is normally used to decaffeinate coffee to kill molds. Independent clinical tests prove that we are capable of reducing molds by 95%. Our cost effective treatment uses near and supercritical carbon dioxide which effectively destroys molds and bacteria after water damage and is suitable for books, documents, archival records, art works and textiles. Our cost effective method has taken us seven years to develop. It is non destructive and cost effective environmentally safe unlike other methods.

The first step is that the water damaged documents and water damaged books is blast frozen to minimize large ice blocks which can damage the paper in your water damaged leather books and vellum books, paper books, or documents further.

Normal freeze drying is a good second step if the water damaged textiles and water damaged books and water damaged documents being treated contain water but is not without its draw backs. Freeze drying removes the water, but on its own freeze drying is an unacceptable form of treatment for mold on books, papers, and documents after water damage. This is because mold has a protective mechanism within its life cycle which can help it to survive against such extremes as freezing and desiccation. When this occurs mold forms rough, thick walled protective coatings protective called zygosporangia which allow it to become metabolically inactive until such time that conditions improve (conditions where the temperature is warmer and there is more water). Many laboratory suppliers make use of this mechanism and commercially freeze dry mold samples to sell to researchers. So normal freeze drying is not enough, further treatment is required.

Midwest Freeze Dry innovation is that after freeze drying the process of decontamination is continued using a series of other techniques. After freeze drying the material is treated with plasma. The plasma is generated using a dielectric field and a special mix of gases which are all contained in a customized vacuum chamber.

Plasma is considered by physicists to be a fourth state of matter. It is a highly ionized neutral gas in which the number of free electrons is approximately equal to the number of positive ions. Particles present in the plasma such as ions and free radicals have a high activity and do the work on the moldy documents, papers, photographs, manuscripts, maps, slides, microfilm, microfiche, x-rays and books. Their high activity is related to the process pressure.

After plasma treatment the leather books, vellum books, paper books or documents are treated with carbonic acid. Carbonic acid (H₂CO₃) is a dibasic acid which is formed when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water. It is a chemical reaction which occurs in nature when rain water is formed.

Under special controlled conditions this carbonic acid is introduced along with applied heat and effectively sterilizes the affected material being treated including the mold. This may occur due to the unique mass transfer properties of super critical / near supercritical CO₂whichmay allow the fluid to penetrate the cell walls and interact with the intracellular components of the mold. This cost effective sterilization is a function of both the proximity to the fluids critical point and the chemical nature of the fluid itself.

To test our treatment we used conventional microbiological procedures and did multiple tests on areas of water damaged mold infested documents. We took samples before and after treatment and then analyzed the samples. The samples were also independently analyzed.

Conditions – Aseptic conditions. Samples were incubated at 37°C in a constant temperature growth chamber.

Midwest freeze dry were able to identify the most prevalent mold present and to take a colony count. The most abundant molds were identified as the common paper molds Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium notatum. The colony counts were measured in Colony Forming Units (Cfu’s).

Midwest Freeze Dry’s in house test results were able to show that the mold had been reduced by 2-3 log orders (5 samples taken - mean initial cfu’s 28,000 , mean final cfu’s 1,307 a reduction of 95.33%) and were consistent with an independent laboratory’s results, but with the added advantage that the results were available after 48 hours.

While growing cultures may permit greater accuracy in speciating some fungal organisms present, the ability of spores to grow and compete on laboratory media can differ significantly with their ability to grow and compete on a more real world substrate such as a file, document, book or textile.

However, for our needs the use of this type of analysis is very useful. Firstly it gives us a feel for the degree of mold infestation and thus the level of treatment required. Secondly as the mold is being grown on an agar plate the humidity conditions are very high, almost 100% RH, particularly while the agar is wet. As humidity is perhaps the single most important factor which affects mold growth, cultivation on agar should give living mold the favorable conditions that it needs to reactivate, release its haploid spores and re-colonize its new substrate. In short using this method lets us know that we have done our job.

Consider the reality; molds have a high natural incidence. Penicillium and Fusarium for examples have 6% and 5% presence respectively in an average sample of outdoor air. This fact combined with molds complex survival mechanisms make 100% mold eradication an unachievable goal. Our results were a 95.33% mean reduction which we consider a good outcome as the mold was significantly eliminated and important documents were saved and rendered safe to normal handling.

A few or trace amounts of fungal spores in surface sampling should be considered background and be expected. In this investigation our methods were tested on fungal species that were found on documents the most significant but not exclusively being common paper molds Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium notatum. We are conscious that these are not the only fungi that which infest books, legal documents, works of art and personal collections but we feel that these our methods could be applied equally to any rapidly growing, asexually reproducing fungus.

Why Choose Midwest Freeze Dry?

Midwest Freeze Dry has 25 years experience in cost effective restoration.

We are a specialized and dedicated firm that uses the most up to date scientific methods to treat water damaged books and water documents. Our non ozone treatment excels after water damage to vellum books, paper books, documents, paper, archival records, art works and textiles. We spend a large proportion of our time in the research and development of new non chemical technologies to be applied to the restoration and conservation of water damaged books and water damaged documents and are consulted by other conservation professionals daily.

Midwest Freeze Dry acknowledges that freeze drying alone does not kill mold. We believe that further treatment with supercritical and near supercritical CO₂ is a satisfactory and environmentally safe mold treatment for materials after water damaged documents and water damaged books. No Ozone is used in any of our processes because our research has shown it degrades paper by bleaching causing accelerated aging and consequently fading, loss of tensile strength and cuts down the life expectancy of vellum books, paper books, documents, paper, archival records, art works and textiles.

Our new non ozone process has been used to treat numerous libraries, collections, legal documents and as an alternative to replacement in insurance claims.

In addition to our unique non ozone mold treatment we provide a number of supporting restoration services.

Our team can ascertain the level of damage caused by fire, soot, smoke, water, and mold to water damaged leather books, water damaged vellum books, water damaged paper books and water damaged documents, including on site assessment and can co-ordinate with your staff to ensure that your disaster response is timely, efficient and does not cause the situation to worsen saving you time and money.

We can co-ordinate with your staff to catalogue and to pack and safely ship all your books and documents.

At your request your books and documents can be clipped, cleaned and re-filed.

We accept Visa and Mastercharge

We specialize in salvage and restoration providing cost effective vacuum freeze drying:

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged manuscripts vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged leather books vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged vellum books vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged leather furniture vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged leather car seats vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged leather bucket seats vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged court documents vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged legal records vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged papers vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged files vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of cost effective restoration water and fire damaged art on vacuum paper freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged documents vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged photographs vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged architectural materials and maps freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged wood objects vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged collectibles freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged wood furniture vacuum freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged textiles freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged oriental rugs freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged silk rugs freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged handmade rugs freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged Persian rugs freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged wood flooring drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged fine art prints freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged fine art drawings freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged fine art rare leather books drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged antiques wood furniture freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged medical documents records freeze drying

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged memorabilia freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged furniture freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged x-rays freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged vital records documents.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged microfiche freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged microfilm freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged vital statistic documents freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged schools library leather books freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged schools library documents freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged archival periodical documents books freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged medical x-rays freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged dental x-rays freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged hospital x-rays freeze drying.

* The art of restoration conservation water and fire damaged legal documents freeze drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged documents utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood furniture utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood objects utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged books utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood flooring utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged archival periodical utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged library books utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged tax records books utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged library books utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged x-rays utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged microfilm utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged medical x-rays desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged memorabilia utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged medical documents records utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged collectibles utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood flooring utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood objects utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged wood furniture utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged vital statistic documents utilizing desiccant air drying.

Restoration and conservation water fire damaged architectural materials and maps utilizing desiccant air drying.

Remediation Restoration Mould Damage schools, library, museums, archives and private collections.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged manuscripts, documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged books plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged medical records plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged vellum documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged paper documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged fine art prints plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged fine art posters plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged rare leather books plasma gas fumigation

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged rare vellum books plasma gas fumigation

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged fine art drawing plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged books plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged antiques furniture plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged photographs documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged art on paper plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged school books plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged painting plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged library books plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged collectible plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged memorabilia plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged medical x-rays u plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged school libraries documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged manuscripts documents plasma gas fumigation.

* Cost effective remediation and restoration of mold damaged archival periodicals documents books plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens textiles plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged oriental rugs plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged handmade rugs plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged Persian rugs plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens tiger skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens bear skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens lion skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens zebra skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens deer skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens wolf skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens moose plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens wild boar skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens jaguar skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens snow leopard skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged zoology specimens buffalo skin plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged wood flooring plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged wood objects plasma gas fumigation.

* Remediation and restoration of mold damaged wood furniture plasma gas fumigation.

Mold and bacteria remediation using near and supercritical carbon dioxide Cleaning

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning wood furniture.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning wood objects

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning wood floors

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning buffalo skin.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning wood .

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning leather books.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning documents.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning vellum documents.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning paper documents.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning drawing.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2cleaning prints.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning painting.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning library books.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning vellum books.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning art on paper.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning zoology specimens.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning Persian rugs

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning silk rugs.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning handmade rugs.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning oriental rugs.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning court records.

* Cost effective mold remediation using near and supercritical CO2 cleaning legal records.

Cost effective Non Chemical Odor Removal schools, library, museums, archives and private collections.

We can remediate small quantities of material for Schools, library, museums, archives and private collections.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on manuscripts documents utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on documents utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on wood objects utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on wood furniture utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on wood floors utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on plain sawn wood floors utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on quarter sawn wood floors utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on rift sawn wood floors utilizing UV

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on papers documents utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on books utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on files utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on records utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold bacteria on wood objects utilizing UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on oriental rugs UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on Persian rugs UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on handmade rugs UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria archival periodicals documents UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on library books UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on vellum books UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria medical x-rays UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on film x-rays UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria on dental x-rays UV.

* Surface decontamination and restoration of mold and bacteria hospital x-rays UV.

We specialize in Non-Toxic pest control for Schools, library, museums, archives and private collections.

* Non-Chemical pest control Carpet Beetle * Non-Chemical pest control House Moth

* Non-Chemical pest control Buffalo Bug * Non-Chemical pest control Spider Beetle

* Non-Chemical pest control Booklice * Non-Chemical pest control Drug Store Beetle

* Non-Chemical pest control Death Watch Beetle * Non-Chemical pest control Silverfish

* Non-Chemical pest control Casemaking Moth * Non-Chemical pest control Carpet Moth

* Non-Chemical pest control Firebrat * Non-Chemical pest control Drywood Termite

* Non-Chemical pest control Webbing Clothes Moth * Non-Chemical pest control Tapestry Moth

Consulting restoration water, fire, mold, and soot damaged plain sawn wood flooring.

Consulting restoration water, fire, mold, and soot damaged quarter sawn wood flooring.

Consulting restoration water, fire, mold, and soot damaged rift sawn wood flooring.

Consulting restoration water, fire, mold, and soot damaged residential contents.

The rates for freeze - drying range from $ 38.00 - $ 58.00 per cubic foot depending on volume. This price includes all handling, loading, unloading and checking of documents and books.

The rates for non-chemical fumigation $ 40.00 - $ 54.00 per cubic foot depending on volume. This price includes all handling loading, unloading and checking of documents and books..