Mold on lps and record sleeves..HELP

DO NOT USE LYSOL!!!!!Cure would be worse than diseas.You want to dry them out and then just wipe them down with moist cloth.Smell will go away after time but remain to some dgree.Just get them into dry environment but Lysol will ruin covers and inner sleeves VRP or Rice Paper of some kind.You might want to find a desiccant like Silica Gel that is in a metal contanier (they use them to put in Ammunition boxes-once it becomes pink you cook it for half in an hour in oven to get water out and it turns blue).Cheaper and easier get vinyl boxes throw a few boil in a bag rice (Brown or White doesn't matter -hee hee) and that will help dry covers.Replace paper sleeves after cleaning.Then I prefer clear mylar outer sleeves rather than cloudy opaque PVC bags because they look better.You can get one with fold over flaps and strip of ahhesive or just regular ones.For my rare LP's I use over flap.Keep LP from falling out and look cool.

As far as LP's go get some with Bugtussel Enzyme Gold.It has reputation to clean off mold spores specifically when others won't.Even with pure alcohol and other washers the stain of the spores will remain.I have a few LP's that have them but not so many that I have gotten any.But I think if you have large LP collection that VPI `16.5 would be great (I sue it and Allsop hand cleaner for occasional cleansing).Even a new record never played has release compounds from the pressing and running it through a VPI would be great.I use this and home brew liquid with 1 pint of alcohol and a few drops of Dawn dish liquid and a few drops of Kodak Photoflow to break up watter drops and have it spread.Other cleaning products are kind of expensive (Disc Doctor seems to be everybody's choice).I know it's expensive but LAST record preservative is best thing to treat LP's with after first clean and is good for 50 plays.Hardens vinyl and it with their stylus treatment makes the needle glide.Pre-clean the LP's or have first and second tube (you don't want main clean tubes and felt "lips" to get dirty) is best start.Read about Bugtussel and LAST.Now how far you want to get into this $$$ wise is up to you.But I have many $15 records and more $50 and some $500 ones.So they are not cheap.Dry them,Clean the LP's and wipe covers,get rice papper inner sleeves if you want at very minimum.
Cheers
Chazz

Act quickly! Get the LPs out of the sleeves and cleaned. The mold you see is eating the vinyl and there is no recover from that, but you can halt the process so more damage is not done.

Bleach will kill mold, but you need a cleaning solution to remove the residue. Any of the better vinyl cleaning fluids (Walker Prelude, AIVS, Disc Doctor) will be you SECOND step in cleaning.

Your FIRST step can be a 20% bleach solution with water, followed by a thorough rinse, followed by cleaning with one of the cleaning fluids mentioned. Be sure to clean the label and the center hole where mold spoors may also be hiding and can cause a recurrence. (Use a Q-Tip style cotton swab to clean inside the center hole.)

Only after killing the mold on ALL your LPs with the bleach solution and rinse, should you go back to the lengthier task of cleaning each LP. It is important to first stop further damage from the mold continuing to feast on the vinyl grooves of your LPs.

For the record jackets, I've used a combination of 20% bleach with a two tablespoon of TSP per gallon of water. Use a sponge, wring it out to just damp, and wipe down all exterior and interior surfaces of the jacket. (CAREFULLY check a small section of the outside jacket FIRST to be sure this solution is not going to adversely affect the jacket.) Insert something inside the jacket to hold it open for 24 hours until it thoroughly dries.

Good luck!

with 250 LP's I would buy a VPI 16.5. It's well worth the money for the labor savings for the job ahead of you, and especially if you intend to play them a lot after you get them cleaned up this time. I have the 16.5 and previously had a manual Nitty Gritty. The NG is worth having, but I prefer the VPI, even for the extra $.

...So bleach?? Really?
Wow-is there no actual record cleaner that is less severe, but still good for mold??

Yes, bleach. Really. You need to kill the mold and the mold spoors, otherwise the mold will come back. This is not something to kid around with if you want to preserve your vinyl. Bleach in a 20% solution will kill the mold and be benign for the vinyl if rinsed promptly. The risk is to the labels and jackets, but they are what will harbor the mold for a return.
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