How can I clean an extra dirty record (mold, etc.)?

I bought a rare promo 45 copy of "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles, and it had been stored in a moldy basement for many years. I knew what I was getting, but I thought I'd take a chance. The vinyl really doesn't have many scratches at all. Had it been properly stored, this would've easily graded VG+.

I've already done a medium pressure water rinse, record solution and light brush, and a vacuum dry. I then did a clean with a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water, and again, vacuumed it.

You can see in the picture the gunky residue that didn't want to come off with the above procedure. Any ideas on next steps? The labels were trashed when I bought it, so I could really care less what happens to them.

 

Vinegar...?

 

I suppose it's worth a try. Any chance of permanently damaging the record by putting white vinegar on it?

 

Foaming disinfectant bathroom cleaner will remove the mold mildew spray it on and work it in with fingers. Don't let it dry and rinse with warm water and dry.

 

I think you're onto something.

Why does vinegar work so well for cleaning LP's?

 

I commented on the linked discussion (page 6) and @SandAndGlass further spoofed (page 7) ... Not even a well-scrubbed Ray Charles record could resist vinegar over the long haul. Why not try some Windex? Certain types of mold can sink its tentacles into almost any material, so this record may be already "etched" from the mold.

according to this info: PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) Chemical Compatibility Chart

 

I'm willing to try anything. I only paid $10 for it, given the condition, so it's not a loss if it's ruined. I have two other copies already, but both are G+ and scratched up pretty good. This is the least scratched copy, but the doggone mold (or whatever it is) is quite audible. After each trial cleaning, I'm making a digital dub to my PC.

 

Groovemaster Label saver and Scrubbing Bubbles. I had a horribly moldy Allmans AFE Pink Capricorn that sounds pretty good now.

 

Is there anyone or any place that has an ultrasonic cleaner? It might be worth a try, IMO.

 

I’ve had good luck using the mofi enzyme cleaner on moldy records.

 

Any updates on suggested methods. Vinegar, etc. I have a moldy zep II RL that needs cleaned.

 

Wood glue cleaning will get rid of that. Mr Muscle pipe cleaner works too. I've used both methods successfully to get rid of mold on records.

 

OP, might want to try buying the Steve Hoffman-mastered RC compilation "Uh-Huh". Sounds divine. Tube gear was used as well as RC himself giving his thumbs-up.

 

Cillit bang

 

Update: I tried the white vinegar first. It's been a couple months, so I don't recall if I used it straight or mixed it distilled water. I think I just used it straight, then rinsed, and then vacuumed. Not much improvement after the vinegar. Next, I sprayed on some Scrubbing Bubbles foaming solution. I let it sit on the record for a few minutes, and then rinsed and vacuumed. This seemed to get much of the mold and grime off, because it played significantly better after that. NOTE: The Scrubbing Bubbles seeped onto the label, and while the label was already pretty wrecked (see above pic), the foaming cleanser almost completely disintegrated the label.

Here's an audio sample for those interested: Dropbox - Ray Charles samples.mp3 .

The mp3 file has the lead in and about the first 30 seconds of the song repeated three times.
1) after cleaning with record solution & vacuum
2) after cleaning with white vinegar & vacuum
3) after cleaning with Scrubbing Bubbles & vaccum

I think the third dub (starting at 1:07) is the clear winner. Make no mistake, this has not made the record NM, but it's far better than when I started. Also, for some reason, there was some hissing that was introduced after the white vinegar cleaning but went away after the Scrubbing Bubbles cleaning. Not sure why that is.

 

No! avoid acidic solution, citrus, etc., IMO. The acid embeds into the upper molecular layers, and over time tends to etch the surface.

 

A moldy record needs a detergent solution, or Ammonia such as Windex. Avoid acidic additives, such as citrus or vinegar. Dish detergent works great, no additives, no lanolin (plain Ajax, not normally recommended for records, but THIS is a moldy record) I have cleaned several moldy oldies.. I start with a surface clean. The surface clean is by the old fashioned cloth method. A terry-cloth towel works great as it does get into the upper parts of the groove. The label also gets cleaned.

After the surface clean, The record gets washed by the kitchen sink method. Use lots of soap. An old discwasher type record cleaning wand assists in getting into the groove.. although a directional one works best. Rinse and dry. The record should be ready at this point to clean in your RCM.

An enzyme product may be worth a try as suggested by @nwdavis1 However mold is very "greasy" so I recommend (also) a good grease cutting soap to remove it.

 

Bin it. Why introduce a smelly mouldy record into your collection. What's next!

 

This is a good candidate for a glue peel cleaning, it still has lots of pops, out of phase, indicating stuff in the bottom of the groove. I manually fixed this through 15 seconds in, with some more workflow fixes for the rest of the file. WAV instead of MP3 would make it easier. Enjoy: RayCharles2.flac

Another technique before glue is to wet play with a microline stylus at 33 rpm, keeping the record quite wet with a water spray bottle, to dig out the dirt, and rinse well with distilled water. After glue, wet play again with a .7 conical stylus for your recording.

 

Cross contamination would be my biggest concern with moldy records. I've passed on used records that otherwise looked good because of flood damage and small amounts of residual mold. Not worth the risk to me.

 

Agree if it were a common title, but this RC record is super hard to find in any condition. I don't plan on spinning it regularly. I just wanted to make a recording on my computer.

 

What did you play it with, what cart/stylus?

 

Wait a sec....how was this ever gonna be a VG+ with those labels??? I’m so confused.

 

He said, "Had it been properly stored, this would've easily graded VG+."

 

AT150MLX