Mold

I have some albums that were water damaged in a storage unit. Several boxes were so bad that the covers turned to a black mush, and were tossed out. Many others were only lightly damaged, with mold on one corner of the covers and inner sleeves, and sometimes on the record surfaces.

I have found that spray furniture polish seems to remove most of the mold from the covers, but I don't think it stopped the mold growth entirely. Now, after a few years the covers seem to have gotten thin and weak in the affected areas. Is it even possible to stop the damage, and prevent the covers from disintegrating? Particularly on the inside of the covers...

Many of the records have a visible area where they were in contact with the damaged covers. I have washed most of them, but the stain and scratchiness in those areas still remain in many. Is there anything that can be done for them, or are they toast? I have tried "wet-playing" several Lps with alcohol. That helped several, but some seem to have really stubborn patches were the mold is/was. That is very tedious and time-consuming, especially with a couple hundred albums. Is there a quicker/easier alternative?

Gerry

Tough problem. When I moved from the city to the country with a huge 78 collection it rained the day I moved the Orthophonic and other early electic albums, so even covered some got damaged. I never could stop them from falling apart and eventually before I knew they had gained a following, gave a truck load of them away... In the house here it can be rather damp in summer and I don't have air, so they have a tendency to mildew on the covers. It seems to love those old type glued covers the best. After I fixed a couple drain pipes so that the water couldn't get under the house and cause damp condtions they have slowed way down. I used to read that lemon juice would help to remove it without damage, or very diluted clorox. I think I tried both from time to time, but it is a pretty hard battle.. Dampness seems to be the most important factor in its return..

I had some good results with Lysol original spray on record covers.

I never had a mold problem on discs themselves, other than some of the World War II record made of substitute materials. Soap and water removed this.

Labels are another problem. I had mold problems, mainly on very old paper labels, and on RCA labels from the late 1970s and early 1980s. I used furniture paste wax on them.