Cleaning Blue Amberol container

[kello24841]

Hi all! I'm new here--I'm excited to have found this great community and it's nice to meet you all! I have an Edison Amberola 50 that's in great condition, but the records that came with it (about 40 of them) have been in a dusty dank basement for 30 years. They're also in rather good condition, considering, but they need some care. So I'm working right now on cleaning the dust, dirt, and mildew (?) off of the Blue Amberols themselves, and realized it does no good if the boxes I put them back into are just as filthy. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for cleaning the dirt and mold off the interior of the cardboard? At what level of decay do I have to decide to sacrifice the box for the sake of the record? And how can I tell if it's just dirt/dust or something more sinister?
Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

-Kelly

[52089]

Hi all! I'm new here--I'm excited to have found this great community and it's nice to meet you all! I have an Edison Amberola 50 that's in great condition, but the records that came with it (about 40 of them) have been in a dusty dank basement for 30 years. They're also in rather good condition, considering, but they need some care. So I'm working right now on cleaning the dust, dirt, and mildew (?) off of the Blue Amberols themselves, and realized it does no good if the boxes I put them back into are just as filthy. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for cleaning the dirt and mold off the interior of the cardboard? At what level of decay do I have to decide to sacrifice the box for the sake of the record? And how can I tell if it's just dirt/dust or something more sinister?
Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

-Kelly

First, check elsewhere on the board to see how to properly clean blue Amberols without risking damage.

As for cleaning the boxes, personally I'd say don't bother. Keep any that are reasonably clean inside and out and toss the rest. Store the clean cylinder records in a drawer standing up straight so you can read the titles.

One note - you mentioned mildew, which rarely attacks blue Amberols. Make sure you actually have Blue Amberols, not just some other kind of record that got put into a Blue Amberol box!

[kello24841]

First, check elsewhere on the board to see how to properly clean blue Amberols without risking damage.

As for cleaning the boxes, personally I'd say don't bother. Keep any that are reasonably clean inside and out and toss the rest. Store the clean cylinder records in a drawer standing up straight so you can read the titles.

One note - you mentioned mildew, which rarely attacks blue Amberols. Make sure you actually have Blue Amberols, not just some other kind of record that got put into a Blue Amberol box!

Thanks for your response! I've already had great luck finding out how to clean the Amberols themselves, just have never seen the issue of box-cleaning addressed. I was afraid the answer might be that some of the boxes are just not worth keeping (though I plan on keeping all of them, maybe just not storing the records in them for now). And the "mildew (?)" is probably just me not actually knowing the difference between mildew and mold and whatever else this may be. These are definitely BAs.

[FloridaClay]

Reproduction boxes are available. Check around the web.

Clay

[edisonphonoworks]

http://www.antiquephono.com/accessor.htm

For new Blue Amberol boxes, wish someone would make the blue telescoping early style box. I have had cylinder boxes made before by a spiral tube company http://www.acmespiral.com/index.htm

[kello24841]

Oh super! Thanks for the links!