Cleaning flood damaged vinyls

A couple (actually five) thoughts:

1. Having the insurance company pay to have the mold damaged records cleaned will not return them to their full value as CZ noted above. If the insurance company would treat them as a total loss and you could be compensated accordingly, that would be the best option (unless you have rare, irreplaceable pressings).
2. I wouldn't assume that conventional record cleaning methods, including ultrasonic, will kill that stuff. (Aside from not wanting to pollute an ultrasonic machine with a living organism). I haven't really researched cleaning moldly records in depth, but my impression is that you need something pretty aggressive to kill that stuff. There are various mold remediation chemicals, some of which may be suitable for vinyl- I think one fellow on the Net was talking about Sporicidin, but I have no hands-on experience with that, and as I think the Record Genie noted, some mold may have 'etched' or damaged the record so even if you kill the active growth, the damage is done. You also have the issue of not using something so volatile that the cleaning does damage.
3. If you are going the cleaning route, I would go with a professional, like the Genie (who I have not used, and have no hidden agenda to promote).
4. As others have noted, get the records out of their damp sleeves and jackets, pronto. That stuff is alive! And keep all of it segregated from other things; I would imagine mold on vinyl could migrate to other things within your household. Not to be alarmist, but you have to treat this like the biohazard that it is; I would think touching the records or sleeves, and touching other stuff in your house could cause contamination, but maybe i'm being alarmist.
5. Bummer. Hope you get this sorted. It's an issue I've thought about researching more fully, but I haven't had the need (thank goodness) or the time. I didn't see much on the web in the vein of archivist recommendations regarding vinyl records, there are some pieces about mold on books and documents, but that's a whole other thing. (And they are wearing gloves too).Nor was there anything I saw in a quick glance on the Library of Congress guidelines on archival matters re mold remediation for records. (I didn't look real closely but I don't remember seeing anything).
Let us know what happens, and I'd be interested to hear from the Genie, if he does do this kind of remediation, exactly what he does (unless he considers it proprietary).

RecordGenieUSA,
Curious about your thoughts on KLaudio vs Audio Desk cleaning machines. I currently have a Nitty Gritty Minipro2 but would like an ultrasonic system, too. There is no review quite like an end user review.

Miner- for what it's worth, I have owned both. I would actually recommend a DIY ultrasonic and a point nozzle vacuum system. My best results have been obtained with one or another ultrasonic, after pre-cleaning, but rather than using fan dry, vacuum drying using a big Monks. You can buy a used Loricraft for far less than the Monks (or there is a new baby Monks I haven't used). Be curious to know if the Genie has tried this- I have played with and written about this extensively, including visiting the LOC and spending time with their preservation specialists. One of the methods I use is named after the famous Syntax, here on the 'Gon, but it risks damaging the KL because you are not supposed to remove a wet record from the KL (and you really can't do that with the ADS). You need to use both manual/vac clean and ultra sonic for best results, at least with used vinyl, but you didn't ask for my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

To answer Whart's question about cleaning:

There's nothing "proprietary" about any of my cleaning processes, I simply use the Audio Desk machines with their cleaning agent as the manufacturer intended, and I use the Klaudio machines with frequent distilled water changes. I buy my water from CVS pharmacy in cases of 6 gallons, it's more expensive than Walmart's distilled water, but I like that it is also filtered to 0.5 micron.

I have two Audio Desk machines. At this point, one is really a backup machine, and I have modified the other one to work with 2 gallons of cleaning solution. Dirt settles on the deeper tank bottom, below where the pump pick-up is. I can clean the bigger water tank easily and completely, and I also modified that machine to allow early release of the record, to skip the Audio Desk drying cycle. When I am "double-cleaning" the records go straight from Audio Desk washing into one of my 2 Klaudio machines for the second part of the double-cleaning, and drying. Klaudio fans are more powerful fan and dry better than the Audio Desk, although I always run the full 5-minute drying time before putting records away in new sleeves. I use MoFi and Diskeeper 2.0 sleeves.

I use a water testing meter (measures TDS or "total dissolved solids" in PPM or "parts per million") and check often to see exactly how "dirty" the Audio Desk solution and Klaudio water is getting. I change the Klaudio water when it reaches 5ppm which is still absolutely crystal clear. Some of the increase in PPM can be attributed to small amounts of Audio Desk solution still on the record surfaces from the first cleaning. Audio Desk solution measures 3.5ppm when new.

Klaudio themselves recommend changing water every 100 records, and 5ppm comes up well before then, although of course that's entirely dependent on how dirty the records being cleaned are. The discarded Klaudio water might look perfect, but I know I want the best results for customers, so I check often and maintain strict quality control of what I am doing. It's only half a gallon of distilled water per change for each Klaudio machine, with no expensive cleaning solution added.

Any pre-ultrasonic cleaning steps are equally obsessive, for mucky garage sale finds, and especially for moldy records, which I rarely clean. I have "Vinyl-Stack" and "GroovMaster" label protector "handles" that make manual cleaning easier, and I have used Spin Clean, MoFi enzyme, Sporicidin, and also L'Art Du Son cleaner for pre-treatment. My VPI 16.5 machine obviously vacuums off fluid, but there is always the problem of clean and dirty sides (face down) so cleaning by hand, using dedicated brushes, and thorough rinsing with distilled water avoids risk of cross-contamination. I use a "pump-up" pressurized tank for easy spray rinsing with distilled water. When I need to pre-clean, I use a lot of extra distilled water.

I do all of this to make sure no mold goes into the ultrasonic cleaners, although the Audio Desk cleaning solution must be somewhat antibacterial since I've observed that stuff doesn't grow in old fluid (drained into gallon containers) like it can with Klaudio drain water that's been sitting for months. My precautions might be overkill, but I have an extra set of microfiber rollers that I swap in just for cleaning previously moldy records, and those records have to wait for cleaning right before I dump the Audio Desk cleaning solution at the end of it's useful life. When I clean the Audio Desk and start with new fluid, I also clean and refill the Klaudio machines.

To answer Miner42's question about Audio Desk vs Klaudio:

I know there are fans of both machines, and if you have only one then you might naturally consider it the best, that's human nature perhaps, but I have both machines (two of each) and consider them both equally essential to what I am doing for Record Genie customers..

I started with an Audio Desk in August 2013 and was going to buy a second one that September once I got started, but chose a Klaudio instead, and am glad I did as the machines both work differently to solve the same problem of dirty records. Later on, when I needed to add a third machine for more capacity, I asked customers which machine I should buy, Audio Desk or Klaudio? There was no clear answer, so I added another one of each, which maintained the same balance of cleaning capacity.

Early on, purely by chance, it was discovered that when used together the two different machines could offer even better results, as reported by one of my customers who is a jazz collector and had me double-clean a particularly noisy Blue Note for him. He reported back that the record went from very noisy to amazingly quiet, so we did some more testing, and that was the reason I started offering double-cleaning to other customers. It has been very popular.

In terms of double-cleaning, the Audio Desk's cleaning solution, rollers, and ultrasonic are good for the first step, especially for records with minor crud or fingerprints on them, and the cleaning solution has excellent anti-static properties too. The Klaudio's higher wattage ultrasonic in pure distilled water is the perfect second step, and you might say it's the better choice for "already cleaner" records. Water changes are important, especially the Klaudio, to get the second step closer to a pure rinse effect. I have also experimented with expensive "lab grade" water in the Klaudio machines, but customers (who all knew) did not report any difference that justified the extra expense.

Long answers I know, and maybe not what you were looking for, but hope that helps!

Bottom line is that if you're curious about ultrasonic cleaning, and the Audio Desk and Klaudio machines in particular, then I'd be happy to clean some records for you! Choose some favourites you know well, and have me do a mix of Audio Desk and Klaudio single-cleans, and some double-cleans (both machines), then play them afterwards and compare. Then you'll know how well either (or both) can work with your records, played on your system!

Thanks,
Dave

Dave you are a good guy for giving all that detail. I have come to the conclusion that there is no 'one way' and that with access to a variety of machines, fluids, etc, I used combined approaches. Some records just require more work than others depending on the contamination. Best,
bill hart