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Rescuing Molded, Mildewed Vinyl


joessportster

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Went to a yard sale (Bar going out of Business) They had 10-15 Boxes of Vinyl they wanted 100.00 for the Lot, I did a quick perusal and bought them.  Got them home and looking through them there was a lot of big band but I had seen a few Classic Rock. Turns out the 1 peach crate with the Classic Rock was the ONLY crate that took moisture damage and every LP in the crate the Jackets were stuck together and molded.  I pulled the Vinyl out and Burnt the covers sleeves

 

What I did was take a paint edger  (https://www.lowes.com/pd/SHUR-LINE-Edger-Pro/50369766?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-Paint-_-Applicators-_-50369766:SHUR-LINE&CAWELAID=&kpid=50369766&CAGPSPN=pla&store_code=2564&k_clickID=go_625682584_34615005790_111134768230_aud-431535000620:pla-261161108388_c_9010038&gclid=CjwKCAiAsoviBRAoEiwATm8OYLmrLk7uW0FcBuis57seHU-gR4rdDq--l8B1Uilrc5EfgdfqIek3hBoCfTAQAvD_BwE)

 

I lay a bath towel on the counter then lay 2 filthy LP on the towel get the Paint Edger damp and apply some dish detergent directly to the edger. Take the Edger and SCRUB the Vinyl (The edger automatically follows the Grooves with its 100's of little bristles) Flip the LP and Repeat. If the center label had mold mildew I would lightly swipe it once with the edger. Now I lightly ran tap water (We have a Well, so no county / city additives to the water) over each side of the LP (Including the label) place them in a dish strainer. I continued this Process till the dish strainer was full (Approx. 15 LP)

 

Next I take the LP out of the strainer 1 at a time, Fold the Towel so the dry half is up, Place the somewhat dry LP on the towel, Take a micro Fiber cloth and gently polish in a circular motion following the grooves again, Flip & Repeat.  Next I place the dry LP on my VPI 16.5 and clean it with home made solution

 

Put the Vinyl that was minutes ago Molded with the paper sleeve stuck to it on the EAT C Sharp with Grado cart and so far (Approx 20) Without fail EVERY lp I have cleaned in this manner Plays through absolutely as New with VERY VERY Little background noise, They seriously sound quieter than many new Lp I have heard and own

 

I ended up with 99 LP like this, I bought some inner sleeves and am storing them in this manner so far I plan to put those inner sleeves in some of the poly outer sleeves  with a 12" X 12" Piece of heavy card stock to write the title on. for ease of finding the LP when I wish to play hear it

 

I know for fact I have tossed many an LP in the past for this exact reason (Mold / Mildew) Never again though they loose the value of the jacket it is a cheap A$$ way to end up with some mighty fine playable copies of great music

 

Thought someone else might find this of use.  Happy Listening :) 

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At first thought was using the paint edge applicator made of sponge and not bristle type. Thinking the bristle works better. A little time and patience and you sound happy with the results. Only other finishing touch may be the process using the solution Neil(DizRotus) has used and Mallette.

Bottom line appears to be you are happy so...sure I would be ...alright thanks.

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2 hours ago, billybob said:

At first thought was using the paint edge applicator made of sponge and not bristle type. Thinking the bristle works better. A little time and patience and you sound happy with the results. Only other finishing touch may be the process using the solution Neil(DizRotus) has used and Mallette.

Bottom line appears to be you are happy so...sure I would be ...alright thanks.

Care to elaborate on the solution Neil and Mallette use ?  Is there a recipe ?

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