tropit

Good choice of words, Christy. I had no other option with my babies. They are actually in an old, run down house, but still, it smells strongly of mildew in there. I have to open all the doors and windows, when I want to work on the machines. I'm going down there today to check on them. I'm going to try to bring some of my faves home; but which ones? It's like SOPHIE'S CHOICE.

~ Cindy

miriam

Pick out an old nasty one and see if you can make it work.

SteveH

My method is to live in California where rain is now illegal.....

Also, a bowl of Rice makes a great desiccant (absorbs moisture from the air)

tropit

Well Steve, I live in Mendo, where almost everything is legal, even rain...LOL. Rice is a VERY good idea! I had forgotten about that. It's relatively cheap too.

I went down there yesterday and surprisingly, the machines looked really good. I think that they are actually faring better than the ones up at our house. I keep some of them in those nice, ZIPLOC, plastic bins that lock tight and they looked perfect. The rest were on the shelves and floor. The worst of any damage that I could see were on the wooden cases stored near the floor. They looked very, slightly weathered. I'm going to get some oil for them and give them a good rubdown.

I did take Joe's advice and gave some of the machines a light coating of oil, until I ran out of oil. I'll go back in a couple of days and do it to the rest of the bunch. I do worry a bit about the oil turning dark and crusty, if I can't get to them for awhile, but I'm pretty sure I can get down there often enough to play with them.

~ Cindy

Tink's Mom

Cindy,
If you want to avoid some of the mildew/mold odors, try some of the stuff they sell at Dollar Tree. It is a moisture wick stuff. It seems to work even better than rice. Also, if the house is empty, there might be little mousies looking for a free meal...and this stuff isn't edible.

tropit

Dollar Tree...good idea! I'm actually going there today. Thanks!

~ C