Cleaning moldy records?

[RobbieG]

Sorry Robbie, I missed this earlier. Yes, the recipe you posted previously is similar to what I and many others have had success with. Your protocol looks similar as well, but I always include a final dH20 wash step before drying to make sure there is no residue left behind. As far as the Simple Green Pro, it looks good, but a little less concentrated (in quats) so you will be diluting less but it should work. Have you tried it on a common lp yet? Please post your results.

No worries, thanks for the reply. It does look like the percentage of quats is lower in the simple green. Because I'd be using it for treating mold in addition to antistatic properties, what are your thoughts of using it at it's label dilution (calculates to 15-45 mL/L) with the same amount of isopropyl alcohol and Triton X-100? Would I have to worry about it interacting with the isopropyl alcohol or Triton X-100? Or would I just maybe have to do a second deionized water rinse and vacuum for any potential residues?

Also, how should I dilute the Triton X-100? Add 10-100 mL water at a time and shake for a few minutes before the next addition? I remember you saying something about it not dissolving well if you dilute it too quickly.

[vince1]

No worries, thanks for the reply. It does look like the percentage of quats is lower in the simple green. Because I'd be using it for treating mold in addition to antistatic properties, what are your thoughts of using it at it's label dilution (calculates to 15-45 mL/L) with the same amount of isopropyl alcohol and Triton X-100? Would I have to worry about it interacting with the isopropyl alcohol or Triton X-100? Or would I just maybe have to do a second deionized water rinse and vacuum for any potential residues?
Also, how should I dilute the Triton X-100? Add 10-100 mL water at a time and shake for a few minutes before the next addition? I remember you saying something about it not dissolving well if you dilute it too quickly.

Regarding the Simple Green Pro3: it is about 3% quat (as near as I can figure)so if you do a 1:67 dilution (15mls/L) you'd end up around 0.045% which should be fine, and compatible with the normal alcohol and Triton levels. I always like an extra rinse no matter what the cleaning solution is. Triton can be mixed into aqueous solutions by stirring for a few hours (preferred), or by first dissolving it in a little bit of 50% alcohol before adding to to your solution.

[tom6to1]

Tom, be careful with the Spinclean and DIY solutions. The device relies on precipitation of contaminants at the bottom of the tank so their solution contains a flocculant. If you make your own, you have to add this (e.g. ammonium sulfate) to get the most out of the device. While some quats can act as floculants, most folks seem to get better results using vacuum based devices.

Thanks Vince1. The need for a flocculant is not something I had given proper consideration to. Any advise as to how much ammonium sulfate to add to a batch of cleaner?

[vince1]

No idea on the concentration of flocculant. I'm not even sure which flocculant chemical is used in the Spin Clean formulation, they just admit to having one in there.

[ilyavictoria]

What about a Simple Green Pro3 Plus?

[audiomodder]

Reading this thread I feel like I just took a chemistry class :O

My simple-minded self just used alcohol and distilled water to clean off mold off my records before. I got almost all of it off ( visually ) and they seem to work okay. But should I be worried that there are spores in there that will eat away at them over time?

[RobbieG]

I just wanted to follow-up on my formula and method. I have cleaned about 450 records so far and been pretty happy with the results.

Ingredients (to make 1 liter):

• 1 mL Triton X-100
• 50 mL 99.9% isopropyl alcohol
• 50 mL Simple Green D Pro 3
• 899 mL distilled water

I mixed the Triton X-100 with a few mL of distlled water, then kept adding a little more and more water while mixing until too bubbly. Then I added the isopropyl alcohol, which de-foamed it (and it put off some heat). Added about half the water, the added the Simple Green D Pro 3, then finally the remainder of the water.

Equipment:

• Record cleaning solution (above)
• Diluted Simple Green D Pro 3 (per bottle recommendations) in a spray bottle
• Distilled water
• KAB EV-1 Vacuum Record Cleaner
• Mobile Fidelity Record Cleaning Brush
• KAB applicator brush (that comes with the EV-1)

Procedure:

1. Clean outside of record jacket, inside of jacket, and sleeves/inserts with Simple Green spray bottle and paper towel - Keep separated and set aside at least 24 hours to dry
2. Soak MoFi brush with record cleaning solution
3. Place record on EV-1, put a few mL of record cleaning solution on top, and use MoFi brush to spread across entire surface (turning record several times)
4. Flip record, put a few mL of record cleaning solution on top, turn on EV-1, and use MoFi brush to spread across entire surface (turning record several times)
5. Flip record, put a few mL of distilled water on top, and use the KAB applicator brush to spread across entire surface (turning record several times)
6. Flip record, put a few mL of distilled water on top, and use the KAB applicator brush to spread across entire surface (turning record several times), and turning record backwards for the last 1-2 turns (helps with leaving a water "line" when lifting the record)
7. Flip record and turning record several times, hold paper towel on the outer edge of the record (it often remains wet as the EV-1 does not go completely to the edge of the record), and turning record backwards for the last 1-2 turns (again, helps with leaving a water "line" when lifting the record)
8. Remove record and turn off vacuum
9. Set record vertical to dry for a few minutes
10. After dry, put in a new Sleeve City Diskeeper Audiophile Inner Sleeve
11. After 24 hours, put sleeved record, original sleeve, and inserts back into record jacket and put into a Sleeve City Ultimate Outer 2.5 sleeve (with the opening on the top when shelved to allow for any residual drying) to keep records separate, in case there are any residual mold issues

With this procedure, neither the records nor jackets/sleeves have any residual moldy or musty smell.

In retrospect, I wonder if:

• If I should add a second distilled water rinse
• I should consider adding some isopropyl alcohol to the distilled water rinse to facilitate faster drying

Open to feedback.

And thanks @vince1 for the help/advice in this thread