The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

There are several very reputable people making/selling brown wax cylinders these days (which is, IMHO, very cool).

Does a person have to do anything special to prevent mold from forming on the newly produced versions?


Thank you all in advance.

Just try to keep them in the lowest possible humidity.

Is the use of desiccant in the storage container a no-no? I guess I'm asking is there a "too dry"?

The drier the better.

The care for new blanks is the same as original brown wax blanks. As Chuck said low humidity. Also blanks (all brown wax blanks, as both new and old contain .28-.47% aluminum. ) When brown wax is new, it is is somewhat soft for about a year, the Q of the surface noise has a lower frequency at first, and it slowly goes into a higher hiss, and lowers in db. What this means is you should play your recordings sparingly at first, don't play them repeatedly over and over, they will wear out. However; I have some records I made 16 years ago, and they have seasoned where they now can be played like you would a gold moulded with a C reproducer, when they are fresh and new, I suggest an automatic, or the lighter model B reproducer (not a Diamond B).

Thank you all!

Excellent information!

I didn't know that the hardness of the material changed with age!

I will put silica gel in with my brown wax blanks!


Thank you again!

I received a nice original brown wax blank today,not to record on, but as an example of an original, the diameter was 2.1805 still in the original batting with the light wax paper.