The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

All of this discussion is awesome. Just bought 8 moldy brown wax cylinders to work on. There is some music to be heard faintly on them, almost i perceptible. Learning this information is very rewarding!

Does anyone have any comments on storing desiccant packets in the cylinder containers? Any harm? Any advantage?

By the way, the YouTube video is VERY interesting. It’s amazing that this process is still very undifferentiated. It’s true, it seems that the process is oxidation driven rather than mold/biological, even though the term “mold” seems to be the verbiage everyone uses.

How long was brown wax in use for? It seems that these are the most susceptible. Thank you everyone for all the information.

KCW wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:48 am All of this discussion is awesome. Just bought 8 moldy brown wax cylinders to work on. There is some music to be heard faintly on them, almost i perceptible. Learning this information is very rewarding!

Does anyone have any comments on storing desiccant packets in the cylinder containers? Any harm? Any advantage?

By around 1906 brown wax had practically disappeared from being used for commercially pre-recorded cylinders. Exceptions are always possible, such as the custom-duplicates of Edison Concert cylinders that still could be ordered from the catalog in 1910. Otherwise brown wax blanks of all different shades could be bought easily well into the 1920's. And dictation cylinders were still in use in the 1950's.

I have very good experience with desiccant (silica gel) packs to be stored inside cylinder boxes. Using these makes only sense when you have a box that is fairly air-tight. Otherwise the packs will absorb moisture just through ventilated air. If you want to use them, you should get those with a color indicator so that you will notice when they have reached their saturation point to be either dried for re-use or replaced. In general, it's not a cheap method but as storage conditions are rarely always optimal, it is an option that you can certainly consider.

Bought a big bag of dissident packets to protect me brown wax large concert cylinders (I only have five or so). Will see how it goes. I bought a bunch of losr cause brown wax cylinders for cheap. Virtually. I audio on them when playing with a good automatic reproducer. Will try some isopropyl and see what happens and will report here! Other ideas appreciated!

May I yawn on the fallen man? Your dissident packages will not do anything for you... They will say simply NO ..
(The tricks that the automatic corrector does on our words)
I suppose you wanted to write DESSICANT instead...

The “best” solution for cleaning brown wax is Labtone. This is what the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Library of Congress uses to clean their cylinders prior to digitalization and storage. I would thing that these prestigious institutions would use 70% isopropyl alcohol is it was superior to a Labtone and Deionized Water solution.

Rich Gordon

Where can I get labtone? Definitely willing to try it.

KCW wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 2:02 pm Where can I get labtone? Definitely willing to try it.

Google sez...

https://us.vwr.com/store/product/461948 ... g-compound

You must use deionized water to wash the cylinders with. The reason for this is that deionized water has no minerals in it and will not leave a residue on the cylinder.

Rich Gordon

Was at the pharmacy tonight and happened (by accident) on some isopropryl alcohol. Figured I’d give it a try on a brown wax cylinder that is almost certainly a goner. It did…. Nothing at all. The “mold” (if that’s what it is) stayed exactly the same, even with gentle cleaning. No change in the audio - nothing but static. Whatever was once in there will remain a mystery! Will definitely try labtone when I get my hands in some!