’Tis the season for spring cleaning, which means it’s time for me to muster up the enthusiasm for a deep clean of all the nooks and crannies I neglect the rest of the year. Cleaning while listening to an audiobook makes it all more palatable, although I have caught myself vacuuming the same spot on the carpet for too long when I get distracted by the story.
Speaking of books: That’s the one project I look forward to tackling. Once a year, I take down every book, thoroughly dust the shelves, then reorganize my library. The shelves and spines get some extra love when I dust weekly. But is this cleaning routine really keeping my collection in good shape?
I don’t have any truly priceless books that would require the care of a book conservator, but I consulted one anyway. Hey, book lovers will do what it takes to ensure their treasures are clean and preserved.
If you’re an avid reader like me, you’re going to want to bookmark this. Ahead, I’m laying out expert-backed steps to keep your home library well-maintained for years to come.
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Why do you need to clean your books?
Keeping any surface dust free is a good thing, especially if you suffer from allergies. But dusty books have their own perils, says Beth Cooper, a bookseller who does restoration and repair work at Addison’s, a used-book store in Knoxville, Tennessee.
For one thing, dust left unchecked can stain covers and pages. Even worse? That dust can attract insects that can cause further damage. Silverfish, in particular, have a craving for paper (yes, they too are bookworms). But Cooper notes that there could also be problems for your books with other insects—like roaches—and their droppings. “They can stain, and there’s not much you can do to get rid of that,” she says.
So aside from keeping your bookshelves clean, this project is a good opportunity to prevent or stop any insect issues. “It’s a good idea to take stock and check to make sure that you’re not having any issues due to poor conditions,” Cooper says.
How often should you clean your books?
According to the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), your book cleaning frequency is really dictated by how quickly the area in which you keep your library gets dusty or dirty.
That doesn’t mean you should overdo it, though. The NEDCC says that while cleaning is beneficial to preserving books, too much of a good thing can compromise books that are fragile, brittle or, in the case of leather books, flaking.
Cooper tells me that my annual cleaning is just fine. “If you do it once a year, I think that’s more than most people do,” she said.
What should you do before cleaning your books?
To give your library a proper cleaning, you need to tackle the shelves, not just the books. So let’s start there.
Empty the shelves
While it’s fine to leave your books on the shelves when you dust during regular cleaning sessions, you need to remove everything from your shelves when you’re doing your annual (or biannual) deep clean.
Pro tip: Now would be a good time to declutter books—if you can bear to part with any, that is. As you pull them down from your shelves, create a “books to donate” pile that will go to a new home.
Dust and clean the shelves
Cooper recommends removing the books and then cleaning the shelves, using whatever cleaning product is appropriate for the type of shelving you have (abrasive chemicals don’t mix well with wood furniture, for instance).
If you use a spray or liquid cleanser, be sure to wipe down the shelves and let them dry thoroughly before replacing them with books.
How do you clean books?
It’s important to remember that books are made of paper, so save your elbow grease for cleaning harder surfaces. When dusting your books, you’ll want to use soft cleaning tools and an even softer approach.
Supplies you’ll need
- Soft brush
- Magnetic cloth (optional)
- Vacuum with a HEPA filter and a soft brush attachment (optional)
Directions
- Run a soft brush lightly across the cover. “Gently whisk in one direction, not back and forth,” Cooper says.
- Brush down the spine and the back of the book.
- Brush across the top of the book—this is where you’ll see the most dust, Cooper says.
- Lightly ruffle or flip through the pages to check that nothing is stuck. If you see dust on any of the pages, whisk the dust away gently with the brush.
Some experts, like those at the NEDCC, recommend using a magnetic cloth to dust or even a vacuum with a HEPA filter and a soft brush attachment. The cleaning method is similar to dusting with a brush.
However, Cooper prefers to skip the vacuum, saying it’s too easy to scratch or dent the cover or the page block if you’re overzealous with cleaning. “I just don’t think it’s ideal,” she says. “The soft brush works just as well.”
Pro tip: If you do opt for a magnetic cloth, the NEDCC recommends skipping it with books that have deckled (untrimmed) edges or books that are heavily coated in dirt or dust, as you might rub the dust further into the paper or otherwise abrade the cover or pages.
How do you get rid of dirt or stains on book covers?
Cleaning a dirty book cover isn’t as easy as spraying it with Windex—or anything else, for that matter. It doesn’t make much sense to get a paperback wet while cleaning, of course, but you’ll also want to avoid getting any moisture on leather-bound and hardcover books.
Still, dusting won’t cut it if you’re dealing with a scuffed, dirty or otherwise stained book cover. Here’s what Cooper suggests:
- Take a white eraser (you can find one in an art supply store) and grate it finely—“almost like a zest,” Cooper says.
- Sprinkle the eraser over the top of the stain, then rub gently in circles to remove the dirt.
- Gently dust away the eraser residue.
Pro tip: Don’t use leather cleaner on leather-bound tomes, Cooper says. That’s for your shoes, not your books.
How can you keep your books in good condition between cleanings?
While dusting books and shelves is important, there are other things you can do to preserve your books between cleanings—and readings. Here’s what every responsible bookworm should know:
Give your books some breathing room on the shelf
Be careful about how you organize your books. “You don’t want them to be packed too tight on your shelves,” says Cooper. “They need to have ample circulation.” This is especially important for leather-bound books, because the leather needs to breathe, she explains.
Remove them gently
Give them enough room so that you can pull a book off the shelf easily without disturbing the book next to it or rubbing the covers against each other. “You don’t want to have to end up pulling on the top of that spine to get it out,” she says. “It needs to be loose enough to where it comes out easily.”
Avoid direct sunlight
Cooper says paperbacks can fade in harsh sunlight, and leather-bound books can dry out, so keep that in mind when you arrange bookshelves and bookcases in your home.
Readers who like to collect books with sprayed edges, take note of this so that those colors and designs aren’t compromised. But here’s some good news about sprayed edges: Cooper says that aside from too much sun, she’s not aware of any reason why placing books spine-in would harm them. “They’re still going to be exposed to the same thing, whether they’re facing in or out,” she says.
Vacuum, don’t sweep the floors
The NEDCC says that sweeping only kicks up the dust, while vacuuming removes it. After vacuuming, use a dust mop or a wet mop on the floor. A word of warning: If you do use a wet mop, make sure it’s wrung out thoroughly so you don’t give books on the lower shelf a bath.
Change out HVAC filters
The NEDCC recommends changing your HVAC filters on a regular basis to keep dust at bay in your home. It also helps to keep windows closed.
Maintain humidity levels
Cooper says humidity can wreak havoc on pages, leading to brown stains (called foxing) or even mold and mildew if it gets really bad. Whenever possible, try to keep the humidity between 40% and 50%. (Living in Knoxville, Cooper is no stranger to this issue. During the summer, the dehumidifier is on in the store, she says.)
Here’s another thing I’m going to be cognizant of: Eating and drinking while reading. I know, I know. Reading a book with a cup of coffee or while eating lunch are among my very favorite things in life. But spilling food or drink on a page doesn’t just ruin the aesthetic, as I’ve now learned; it could attract bugs to do damage to the pages later. Suffice it to say, I will be extra careful with coffee from now on—and perhaps read only on my wipe-downable tablet when eating lunch.
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Sources:
- Beth Cooper, bookseller and book restoration and repair specialist at Addison’s; phone interview, April 16, 2026
- Northeast Document Conservation Center: “Cleaning Books and Shelves”
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