Cleaning mold off edison cylinders

[welshfield]

TO ejackett and others:
I have not thrown away any moldy (or otherwise unplayable) cylinders (unless hopelessly broken). I stabilize them as much as possible with a soap-and-water scrub and a very little bleach. I then transfer them to plastic containers where mold can not increase and put them away somewhere where they can await some scientific discovery. Who knows what developments will eventually turn up to allow us (or our heirs) to salvage or even restore these items in the future? My credo is "never say never."
John

[ejackett]

Hmmmm, good point John, I guess I wasn't thinking
that far ahead. I will however do what you do in the
future should I be given any other moldy cylinders.
Thanks
Gene

[rgordon939]

The best product for cleaning wax cylinders that I have found is Labtone. This is what the Libary of Congress uses as well as the University of California use for the preservation of cylinders. Also for cylinders that are just dusty I use the clean cotton padding that cylinders were wrapped in. Just gently wipe the cylinder while turning on your fingers and it will put a nice luster on the cylinder. I then wrap them in 4X4 clean room wipes that I buy from Grangers and store them in thier original boxes.

Rich Gordon

[need4art]

I have been using Labtone for years and worked with a conservator at the Library of Congress on the method that I use. I took a mandrel that I had and fitted it with a 8 inch section of copper pipe as a handle. I srray on the Latone as I turn the cylinder. I use a fiber cloth and turn the cylinder by the handle as the cloth cradles the cylinder in my hand. I have r/o water at the sink and give it a light wash there. I let them air dry for 15-30 minutes and then place them on the handle and use a new dry fiber cloth to do a follow up dry.

If you do 4 min wax cylinders BE VERY Careful as the spraying on the Labtone or water can make them crack if they are not the same temperature

Abe.

[rgordon939]

Here are the instructions for using Labtone to clean cylinders. When rinsing the cylinders after cleaning make sure to use deionized water. Regular water or even distiller water all contain minerals that will be re deposited on the cylinder, that is why deionized water is recommended.

The technique was used by the Library of Congress (for 9000+ cylinders) and the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University (for 7000+ cylinders). This cleaning process was quite simple and extremely effective:
1. Mix a tepid solution of Labtone Detergent (a proprietary formulation from VWR Scientific) until the mixture feels slippery (about 1% or so). Use deionized water to mix.

2. Immerse each cylinder in the solution while holding it with spread fingers inserted into the interior only.

3. Saturate a small (3x6") piece of polyester velvet or velveteen in the solution and while the cylinder is immersed, gently drag the velveteen around the cylinder's circumference, allowing the pile of the velveteen to gently "scrub" the grooves.

4. Rinse the cylinder thoroughly in running deionized water and stand on-end to dry on an absorbent or drained surface. The remaining water will bead on the surface and may be removed with "Webril Wipes" or similar non-abrasive cotton wipers (used for cleaning copier machine drums).

Labtone is that it is a balanced detergent that is formulated to effectively remove organic gunk and oily material. It is very effective on removing the fungal mycelium but doesn't harm the wax. It rinses off completely, leaving no residue. This detergent is intended for hand washing, so it doesn't destroy your skin although you will probably want to wear surgical gloves to protect the cylinders from skin oils. Although I have tested a broad range of other formulated laboratory detergents and individual detergent agents, none seems to perform as well as Labtone for this
application.

Avoid returning cleaned cylinders to the original packing. Discard any wool, cotton, glassine or felt liners in the cylinder boxes (they are actually pasteboard tubes) and insert new liners of 2-3 smoothly fitted layers of polyester felt. Cylinder boxes should be ventilated to avoid further fungal growth and often have a hole in the bottom which serves this purpose. If no hole is present, it might be a good idea to cut a 1" diameter hole in the box bottom. Alternatively, the Library of Congress had developed a nifty telescoping archival cylinder box that supports the cylinder from the inside on pyramid-shaped projections. They may still have these available and might be willing to sell a few.

[edisonphonoworks]

I also recommend the Labtone, it is what I use for all cylinder cleaning.

[need4art]

Actually Labtone was created as a finial rinse for photographic plates used in the production of printed circuit boards, and photographic plates. It was also used originally to clean the surface plates of the old Zerox machines. It was used because it does not leave any surface residue behind if you use the proper water in the mix. The rinse that I do is actually an added step as Labtone can be used without it.

Abe

[epigramophone]

All very interesting, but is Labtone available in the UK?