A friend's home was destoyed by fire. His 4000-plus record album collection survived the fire, but the smoke damage had his albums stinking for several months.
He replaced all the outer sleeves as you plan to do. He stored them in his garage with Downey dryer sheets placed between the albums (approximately one sheet per every foot of albums). The smell of smoke eventually subsided after a few months.
If you feel it is necessary to wipe down all your album jackets, I recommend using white terry cloth very lightly moistened with common isopropyl rubbing alcohol. The alcohol will dry in moments without penetrating and damaging the artwork on the highly porous paper cardboard jackets. I just tried it and it works great.
If your albums smell a bit musty like mildew, I think wiping down the jackets with alcohol is the best solution.
Regards,
Dan Lay
He replaced all the outer sleeves as you plan to do. He stored them in his garage with Downey dryer sheets placed between the albums (approximately one sheet per every foot of albums). The smell of smoke eventually subsided after a few months.
If you feel it is necessary to wipe down all your album jackets, I recommend using white terry cloth very lightly moistened with common isopropyl rubbing alcohol. The alcohol will dry in moments without penetrating and damaging the artwork on the highly porous paper cardboard jackets. I just tried it and it works great.
If your albums smell a bit musty like mildew, I think wiping down the jackets with alcohol is the best solution.
Regards,
Dan Lay