The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I bought these very moldy black wax cylinders a while back in the hope that maybe I could use the boxes. These were obviously stored terribly, and I keep them quarantined from any good cylinders. I was wondering if there is any hope for these, or if I should even be thinking about reusing the boxes. Visually, these boxes look okay. I just don't know if it is safe to be putting good cylinders in them. I also don't know if these black wax cylinders could be shaved and reused. It's a pity - there are some good titles in here - and a couple of Grand Opera cylinders, as you can see....

Mike

If the cylinders look like that, then IMHO they are too far gone to try to use. You can't really shave and reuse black wax cylinders, unfortunately.

The boxes may be a different story. You have both varieties of the Grand Opera box and one lid, and those would certainly be of interest to many here including me. The "normal" boxes could possibly be cleaned up and (worst case) used for protection during shipping, though I probably wouldn't use them for long term storage of wax records again.

You need to place the boxes in a large sealed container and fumigate them to kill off the mold spores or they will get every where and infect other things. you can get fumigant from most garden centres or online. make sure it is for mold though..

Once they become moldy theres nothing you can do.edisonplayer
es

Could the boxes be used for celluloid storage? Or would the mold attack the paper cores?