Brown Edison & Columbia wax cylinders

[SousaBand]

Sometimes brown wax cleans up surprisingly well with a gentle wiping using a clean, soft cotton cloth (old t-shirts work well).

George P.

You can easily clean brown wax cylinders of any vintage using Labtone. It is the best thing I've found, however you have to be careful using it. It makes the cylinders slippery and you can imagine what will happen when you let your mind wander!

Here are the steps I use, taken from several sources including LOC:

1. Get some deionized or distilled water and make a mixture of 1% Labtone (it should feel slippery) in a dishpan. Water should be lukewarm, cylinder at room temp (although your can warm it slightly by holding in your hand)

2. Immerse the cylinder in the mixture and gently rub it down with either of the following: polyester velvet or velveteen, a small square from one of those microfiber wipes, or a section of pantyhose. All of these things have one thing in common; incredibly small loops that are non-abrasive. Using gentle pressure is the key. I just lay the cylinder on the pad in my left palm and using the downward weight of the cylinder itself, I rotate it with my right hand until the whole surface of the cylinder has been cleaned.

3. This stuff is slippery so this next part is critical, you rinse the cylinder in running deionized or distilled water. I have experimented with having a separate pan of rinse water. This works well for small batches. The cylinder should not feel slippery when properly rinsed, then just set it down on end. A paper towel is great for absorbing the water and if the water beads on the surface, just wipe it off with a microfiber cloth.

You may want to do this process wearing latex or nitrile gloves. The Labtone can be used for washing your hands, so it won't eat skin, however I find there is a little more "grip" with a glove.

OK, here's the not so good part....it is expensive! The company that sells it discontinued the 8 pound size. However, I pooled with several other collectors and it brought the cost down.

Check it out here: https://www.vwrsp.com/catalog/product/i ... =89030-114

[JohnM]

So, is it cleaning off a plant or a chemical bloom? What's in Labtone? How does it work?

[penman]

Labtone (made by Alcon and also known as Alconox) is basically a high power non-chlorine version of automatic dishwasher detergent. It's what most chemistry labs use when they clean glassware because it does not leave any chemical residue. The major ingredients are:

SODIUM DODECYLBENZENESULFONATE (primary surfactant)
SODIUM CARBONATE (wash aid) (aka washing soda)
SODIUM PHOSPHATE (wash aid)

This makes it very basic without all the other stuff put into consumer products.

George

[Lucius1958]

Has it ever been determined whether the 'mold' is actually a mold or fungus or mildew, or if it is a chemical bloom caused from high humidity? I have heard both. If it is a plant, is it a mold or a fungus? I heard once that it was actually a fungus, so I put Micotin on an affected cylinder. It did not make any of it go away, but the 'grease' did penetrate the discoloration a bit and made it darker. Still a lot of surface noise.

It's definitely a fungus (btw, mold and mildew are both types of fungi - which are not plants, but a biological kingdom in themselves). Apparently, it eats the animal fats found in the stearin........ as I have found to my great chagrin.

[WDC]

In general, I do prefer a wet cleaning because wiping the dust over a dry surface can, at least in theory, cause further grinding damage. My favorite cleaning method for wax cylinders is isopropyl alcohol (70%). With extended testing it has proved to safe with major brown wax as well as black wax type cylinders.

I normally use a paper tissue that is slightly soaked with IPA and first gently (!!) wipe the inside of the cylinder while holding it in the box. There is often more dust on the inside that on the grooves. And this can cause the cylinder from slipping off the mandrel while playing it.

Then I wipe the end and put the record on a mandrel. I use my own electric cylinder player but an old phonograph is also fine. I usually take a new clean paper tissue, soaked again with some IPA and carefully apply it to the whole surface while the cylinder is turning. Depending on the grade of dirtiness I apply some little (!) pressure to clean it. The ideal room temperature for this cleaning process is anything between 20-28 °C (68-82 F).

The alcohol will usually dry with 1-2 minutes and fully evaporates. This is the real advantage against any detergents/solvents: There cannot be and residue leftovers. Furthermore, IPA is cheap and can be obtained virtually anywhere on the planet.

If the surface becomes dull, I simply use a dry cotton pad or ball to gently polish the surface.

The attached photo shows a first quick wipe. IPA easily takes off also the cloudy lead residues which are often found on certain black wax cylinders.

[penman]

The other advantage to cleaning with IPA is that you will actually kill some of the fungi on the record. The other methods will only spread it around. Also there will be fungus filaments embedded in the flock of the cartons, probably where most of it came from in the first place. If you can this should also be disinfected. Something like spraying the inside with IPA or Lysol helps. Under NO circumstances should you clean the record with ethanol, Isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) only. And remember all molds are fungi, but not all fungi are mold (my mycology lesson for the day).

George (F)

[OrthoSean]

I'm finidng this to be great info! I have some borderline, but mostly very enjoyable 2 minute black wax cylinders I got at the last Wayne show in a "bargain lot" that will be perfect for trying the IPA trick on. I've also heard from a few sources that leaving cylinder boxes out in direct sun (with no records in the boxes obviously!) will kill what mold / mildew may be living in the cotton lining.

Sean

[penman]

It's the UV radiation from the sun that will help kill the fungi, also the drying and heat effect. It's not quite as foolproof as IPA. My experience is that the worst thing you can do when storing "wax" cylinders is to keep them in the original covered flock boxes, especially if they are in a cool moderately humidified place, like a basement. The flock is made from cotton linters (short "waste" fibers) and probably contained every kind of fungus spore known to man. The best way to keep cylinders in uncovered in those nice peg cabinets. Maybe we can re-invigorate that industry. Can we apply to the government for stimulus money?

G

[WDC]

If I had the money, I'd certainly obtained a new box for each of my cylinders. But unfortunately that is out question. Strong UV light is also used to reduce germs in some seeds. However, a 100% disinfection is not possible, only a reasonable reduction. But with any UV light (such as sunlight) one will certainly risk a severe damage to any printed labels. Practically all of these colors aren't UV resistant at all.

I also doubt that it would be possible to purely sanitize a wax cylinder. Plus the ordinary air is normally full of large varieties of spores. As correctly pointed out, storage conditions is the essential key to a successful preservation.

Old boxes may also have additional chemical issues such as acidified cardboard which cannot be too healthy for a cylinder stored inside.

At least keeping the lids aside to the cylinder in the old boxes does help to prevent built-up moisture inside.

The one importance with IPA on cylinders is to only use 70% IPA, not more. Several distributors do also offer 99% which will not clean anything but rather smear the dirt over the surface. Also, mold spores require a certain grade of water to open for the cleaning alcohol. I have not done any tests but I would also strongly oppose to use ethanol (white spirit, C₂H₆O). IPA (2-propanol, C₃H₈O) is less reactive.

[briankeith]

I think this is a very educational & informative posting. A lot of my collector friends ask questions about cleaning brown wax cylinder records - as well as black wax, and blue Amberol cylinders. AND the obvious storage container problem with regards to the mold / fungus problem. A very good friend of mine is in the carboard box making business, and employs over 20 people. I am going to talk with him about the cost to make new, simple cylinder record tubes / containers and matching lids. Nothing fancy, just a soft lined tube with a snug fitting lid. He can probably keep the cost down by manufacturing these in large quanities if he can find a market for them. (Yet he may not be interested at all in researching this) Most reproduction boxes I have found are rather expensive, unless someone here on this forum knows of another good source for these? I don't.......