Please help! I have some dollar bills that smell of mold. Does anyone know how to get rid of the smell? If you put this money in with other money, the smell transfers. Thanks so much for your help.
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I think the best thing to do is to wash them. Put them in a bowl with a little laundry detergent and a tiny bit of bleach. Swish them around for a while, then rinse them well. That should remove the moldy smell, then dry them by hanging on a line or spreading them on a towel.
- Susan
Thank you Susan
What do you do with the bills to dry them? Doesn't seem right to me but thanks for the suggestion. I'm a Canadian (smile).
I wouldn't worry about removing the moldy smell at all. You can just exchange the bills at the bank. I work at a bank, and we've had people bring in money in all kinds of condition! The bank will just send it back to the Federal Reserve to be destroyed.
Theresa in California
thats not true my bank refused to accept my moldy smelly money and now I m stuck with it
What if it's foreign money you've collected when on trips. I probably have hundreds of dollars and they have mold on them. Will banks and money exchanges take them?
Don't go to the teller but put them through the ACM machine, just a suggestion.
the bank would not let me trade it in went to 4 banks and they said I have to send it in how ridiculous !
You could try spraying the bills with isopropyl alcohol. That should kill the mold and not damage the bill, I think.
This isn't the case at my bank, they would not accept it. I was referred to the FED website for the proper way to package bills that are deemed a health hazard. The process is quite laborious, and if it doesn't meet the FED's requirements they ship it back. I am going to try to wash them then take them to the bank.
Not true, just got turned away from Bank of America.
Either spend it, thereby passing it on, or take it to a bank and trade it for non-smelly money.
Syd
You can purchase Silica packets and put them in with the money, this will remove the moisture and mold. I've been doing to research. Check Amazon, they have these packets.
Wash them with water, then iron them. They will be very stiff and almost like new!
try dampening the dollar bill with a little bit of water, probably like a mist spray bottle if available. then microwave the damp dollar for, i dunno, 30 seconds to a minute?
Do not dry notes in the microwave, any metallic strip will get hot instantly and burn the dollars.
Susan, that sounds like money laundering to me
Hmmmm : )
Susan
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