On Feb 27, 9:01*am, micky wrote:

I think it's all over the basement, but I *guess there are only 2 or 3
areas where those three things are kept. *There is a dresser at the
far side of the room, the back end of the house. * I keep a lot of
knobs in one of the drawers -- knobs that go back to the 1930's but
mostly I think it's those from the 50's and 60's that get moldy -- and
4 or 5% get "moldy".

I also have a parts drawer with an assortment of old knobs and I
recently had the same experience you have. Out of an assortment of
about 25 there were 6 that had an off white coating similar to mold.
The coated knobs were identical and appeared to come off the same
piece of old test equipment. The rest of the knobs were perfectly
normal. Thinking they were moldy I soaked them overnight in a clorox
solution and it didn't phase them. So it definitely wasn't mold. But
with soapy water and a old toothbrush they cleaned easily so I
determined it was an old plastic compound reaction.

Contrary to what some are saying I don't think you have a health
problem in your dry basement.

Some Craftsman tools with plastic handles left in a car trunk or hot
toolbox for a long time often get real stinky. That again is the type
plastic they use and giving them a soapy bath usually helps a lot.