The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello---- I know Edisons are not discussed on this forum to any degree, but in the off chance, would anyone have any advice as to the proper method for the removal of mold on cylinders. Thanks Michael

Michael,

I cannot be removed from cylinders. If you don't want me on your cylinders, it's best not to invite me in the first place, as I'm an eternal house guest. It's due to moisture that I infest cylinders. Either the cotton batting gets wet, or the moisture from the fingers gets onto the edge of the cylinder, or the cylinder is stored in a damp environment. I do my greatest damage to 2-minute gold-moulded records. As for brown wax, they will often play decently despite my presence. As you may know, I dislike Blue Amberols; you will never find me on one!



Mold

bostonmike1 wrote:Hello---- I know Edisons are not discussed on this forum to any degree, but in the off chance, would anyone have any advice as to the proper method for the removal of mold on cylinders.

Michael,

While I cannot give you any advice on mold removal, I would like to attest that Edisons are discussed on this forum—in fact, if you check the archives, we’ve had more Edisons featured than any other brand.

And we have both a cylinder machine and a cylinder in the forum logo.

Hopefully someone has some useful tips to help you remove mold from your cylinders. I imagine that this problem has been tackled by at least one member.

— MordEth

I've already put this link on Moo's forum, but it may be useful to someone here too.
The best thing to use apparently is Labtone detergent. It is used by the Library of Congress, so there's probably nothing better around.
The properties of Labtone are such that it cleans the cylinder while rejecting any moisture from the cylinder, and leaves no residue on the wax, so when it comes out of the solution it's almost dry.
Once completely dried, as long as you don't touch the playing surface & the cylinders are stored in a dry environment, the mold should be unable to appear (or re-appear).

http://home.earthlink.net/~gnordenstam/ ... eaning.htm