I got 127 records from the mid 40, 50 and early 60s that need a lot of cleaning


I got all these records, from a friend's grand father and father, they are "impeccable" some of then not even open, but they were in a cave under their house with their wines. 

I looked at them under the USB microscope and some have a lot of what I think is mold(?)  or some other humidity spores.  

 

How do I go about cleaning them? 

I was thinking some mild detergent and warm water, but then what do I use for cleaning them? I was thinkin on buying one of those cheap ultrasonic machines, but the liquid cleaner I have does not remove whatever is stuck on the records.

What would you recommend for the cleaning liquid and/or steps.

After they are clean, I will get them through the Clear Audio, or Autodesk as a last step.

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If they are very dirty a hand wash in mildly warm soapy water would be the place to start. Thoroughly rinse the record afterwards, gently dry it with a soft cloth and let dry in a rack of some sort.

I have and Audio desk and a Loricraft, but for large cleaning requirements, a Spin Clean can be very effective. I use an eye dropper to saturate the entire surface of the pads. I add about 3\16ths of an inch more than the fill line with distilled water, then I go no less than 60 turns. 15 one direction, 15 the other, and so on. Then I spray the surface of the cleaned record with distilled water until I am certain all vestiges of the cleaning solution has been rinsed away. A gentle drying with a cloth. Then I let them air dry for an hour. 

Cleaned records then go into new Mobile Fidelity sleeves.

When finished, I wash the brushes and the cloths in hot water with a cold water rinse. A tablespoon of detergent and a small shot of bleach in the bleach portal not on the cloths and brushes ensures that the clothes and brushes are rid of all mold, dirt, waxes and oils. They are dry in 3 or so hours and put away.  

:) they are in Spain and honestly do not want to travel with them. I will try 2 different procedures

  1.  @mapman process
  2. TM-8 Super Record Cleaning Solution

I will post pictures for each before and after when the liquids arrive.

Spin clean works well and won’t break the bank. You just need to have enough drying clothes around. Could do that number of records in a few days easily. 

Iso ONLY on vinyl.

Don't know what to use (regarding mold) on shellac coatings et cetera.

There was a recent thread in which care of the older materials used was addressed (not mold though) that I'll look for (think I posted to it).

Will do so later tonight, or tomorrow, as I have to get dinner going.

I've read about using UV light, but most non-commercial UV devices are not up to snuff from what I gather.

 

Dekay

@dekay I want to avoid alcohol because there might be quite a few that are either acetate and lacard(?)

What concentrates do you use in the Ultrasonic?

@noromance so pray the mold cleaner, rinse, and use any record cleaner to the ultrasonic and rinse again. correct?

I think no alcohol, because they are very old

 

I've only had half a dozen, or so, vinyl LP's with mold (rare ones that I wanted to save) and used copious amounts of isopropyl alcohol (letting it set for 10-15 minutes before rinsing with warm tap water and then repeating the process).

Afterwards I cleaned as I usually do (by hand).

I use a clamp on label saver (forget the name) which allows me to really WET things up.

I do use warm filtered water for the rinsing process, along with a DIY cleaning solution that contains approx. 10%  isopropyl alcohol/filtered water/Dawn dish detergent.

Seemed to work as the Lp's were fine/mold free for years afterwards.

Isopropyl alcohol is said to leach plasticizers from the vinyl (not a good thing), but it worked.

Unfortunately, I tossed the jackets/sleeves as they were beyond saving.

The albums you mention seem to be less contaminated that the ones I dealt with.

 

DeKay

Enzyme cleaning with this Mold cleaner. SpinClean with 30% isopropyl alcohol/distilled water rinse, then ultrasonic asap. *No alcohol on Bakelite disks. Replace inner liners.

What I need to know is what liquids to use, all the records I have looked at are original pressings, not a scratch but some discoloration. 

No substitute for ultrasonic. Cheap Chinese ones work well.  Much better than scrub/vac previously used.