Acetate [Level 1]
I put at least 400 records in the linen cupboard because I had no space in my room for them. Thought it was a very safe place because my cat was also starting to use them as a rudimentary scratch post. I've had the past week off work, so I thought I'd categorise them, as I've been planning to do for ages.
Unfortunately found out that the cupboard contained both hot and cold water pipes side by side, so after 6 months of storage, found every sleeve stuck together with dampness, and the vinyl half covered with mould. I've basically spent 3 days having to needlessly wash almost every record, and bin the respective sleeve. Absolutely gutted.:icon_cry:
Keep it Vinyl....:icon_lol:
Underground Hit [Level 5]
You have all my compassion.
It happened to me with two dozens of vinyls.
'Been there-done this but as far as my experience goes, they've been a total loss.
The jackets were totally unusable and the debris and mildew ruined the grooves.
It's almost a crime against humanity.
Since then I've purchased wodden cases and put them on sturdy metal racks, away from damp and contamination sources.
Hang in there.
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Similar happened to me. A couple of years ago I braught out my old records from a closet in the basement. After 15 yeras of storage I was so happy to start recording them to CD:s with a new turntable and new soundcard etc.
About 400 out of 800 12" records in one closet were exactly as yours. Sleeves fallen apart and records covered with mould.
After some extensive manual cleaning I braught back 90% to a fairly good condition. Some of them still has some surface noice probably due to the mildew.
Anyone know if it's possible with a record cleaning machine or any special "tricks of the trade" to get rid of the last traces of mould?
Underground Hit [Level 5]
I have yet to read from someone else a magic cure to surface noise caused by mould.
Neither my expensive Nitty Gritty vinyl cleaner, nor pure alcohol wiping ever returned my plastic discs to their original-quiet playback after the flood episode…
I know that there are some alternatives out there but I've never been a fan of the "wet playback" technique.
All I needed was a miracle.
- Marcus
Double Platinum Record [Level 9]
I've heard of the wood glue trick... cover the playing surface in wood glue, let it dry, and then peel it off... but I have never tried this myself. I might give it a shot soon though.
Gold Record [Level 7]
sheesh:icon_eek::icon_eek: im kind of thinking the linen cubbord also contains the water heater?:icon_eek: im sorry for you, this can happen to anyone even in a damp free house for example if you have records staked against a wall facing you without much space between the lines, this happened to me once ,only about 20 discs but the records were like the rarest in the pile, you have to change them around once in a while.Originally Written by Pirrie
you hear people say they store in the attic i would never do this either too hot in the summer and cold in the winter, i much prefer to trip over stuff all the time in the house at least i know they are safe.
one of the most shocking things ive read on here was from quinny he actually said hes got them stored in a shed in the garden:icon_eek: imagine the horror hes going to face when he goes in there and all those roland rat records are frizzled up like ashtrays:icon_mrgreen:
No Longer Charting
The shed was insulated and heated in winter. They all survived, with just one or two having their jackets come unglued. Now, they're in a storage place. Expensive thing having thousands of items of old vinyl, but I just don't have the room for 'em and won't sell until I get the tracks on/onto CD.
Underground Hit [Level 5]
I use a simple and commercially available wet cleaner in combination with a record washer to eliminate surface noise on old records which have been played too often. Works wonders and the washer is worth the investment. I have never been a fan of the wet playback technique tho. I put the records in the washer, turn them 2 to 3 times and let them dry on the air. Takes about 5 minutes. The results are suprisingly good.
It's really hot - stop!!! Saaaay: Magnifique!
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Sounds weird enough to make it worth a try :icon_biggrin:
If someone beats me to it please let us know the result.
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Re: Be careful where you store your vinyl.
Exactly like you, I cherish this dream of transferring my collection on CD.
No offense to you "Senior Quinny" but if you happen to have a respectable collection of vinyl, you probably won't live long enough to transfer them all onto CD.
A quick and extremely conservative math reveal that 1500 songs (not necessarily both sides of a 12") would require (at an average time of 7 minutes per song) approximately 175 continuous hours of recording (a little less than 8 days in a row).
One thing I know (because I did test it) once the analog to digital conversion work is onto hard drive, a 74-80 minutes of CD recording takes me about 2 more hours to complete and burn (the tracks need to be trimmed, the proper processing effects have to be applied and the tracks splitted).
With a total of 132 CDs needed and considering that it would take an average of 3 hours to do a CD from beginning to the end, I come up with 438 continuous hours of work.
This means: 145 sessions of 3 hours.
As a family man with standard obligations (meaning: at a rate of one CD a week) it would take me about 3 years to complete the archiving.
And hopefully...all this done with no groove skip, no record cleaning required, no hard disk crash, no jewel cases and track listing done.
Most people must have figured this all out before me. I guess this is why some "so called" friends and relative become so nice when asking for a copy of such and such title(s)...
Here you go. I've just lost an hour writing this reply!
Please make me believe it's feasible! :icon_cry:
- Marcus
Gold Record [Level 7]
so funny :icon_lol: :icon_lol::icon_lol: :icon_lol::icon_lol:
Indie Release [Level 4]
When I moved into this house in 1990 I stored my 776 albums in my basement, in the mover's boxes. In 2001 I decided to take them out to make sure they were still o.k. I guess I'm lucky because they were still in excellent condition. None warped or damaged. I set up my old Technics SL-Q3 turntable again to play them.
I created a database of my collection, then put them back in storage last year when I got sick of looking at them. Maybe because the mover's boxes were taped close the records kept better. Like most basements, mine has that damp feel to it. But it is heated and air-conditioned which may be a factor in their good condition too.
Underground Hit [Level 5]
The picture below comes from a web site made to teach how to transfer your collection to MP3. Since I am not too much into makin' things worse than they already are, I will save you from the suggestions that were made by the owner to achieve the task.
I mainly wanted to point that the person obviously hasn't got the idea for safely storing a vinyl collection...
Hopefully, some of this stuff won't eventually show up on eBay.
I have to admit that it is definitely an exploit to achieve equilibrium with such a high pile
Bravo!
Should I need to mention that this way of storing is a big no no?
Indie Release [Level 4]
That is about the worst way to store vinyl albums! A free-standing pile that can easily be knocked down. If the guy needs to get to an album at the bottom he better be very careful.
Acetate [Level 1]
I had a problem with mold growing on the surface of some of my records also, and discovered a way of cleaning them without doing any harm to the record and so that they'll playback quietly. Use a clean white(for some reason color dyed ones don't work as well) heavy 100% cotton T-shirt, preferrably an old one that's been washed several times to cut down on the amount of lint fibers. Wet the T-shirt with regular tap water, and wipe the surface of the record in a clockwise motion. Use another T to wipe the playing surfaces dry on both sides. Your record should sound decidedly better after that. If you want to use alcohol to follow up that initial cleaning, that's fine, it'll actually prevent the mold from coming back. But I do recommend that you replace the inner dust sleeves with new ones if they're made of paper because unless you keep the records in a perfectly dry environment, the mold will come back.
Never clean the mold off of your records first with alcohol. For some reason, it doesn't fully remove the mold spores from the surface and the record will continue to playback noisy.
Advance Promo Copy [Level 3]
I used to live three years ago in a 1930s semi detached house in Manchester in the UK this part is renowned for high rainfall and is the 5th wettest part in the UK. MY records suffered a little due to the room they were in was slightly damp mainly the records stored on a wooden racking bottom shelf suffered most.
It was the paper centres which seem to get mould spots sort of light brown spots in the middle of the vinyl not all but some. I cleaned the smears off by washing quickly through dishwashing soap or washing up liquid, dryed them and then sealed the paper centres with a aerosol furniture polish just a mist just to seal the paper. The vinyl once clean and dry was put into new paper inner sleeves. My record covers too had some mould spots on or smears so i care fully got a cloth with a touch of detergent on dabbed the cover and dryed off with kitchen paper blasted the cardboard covers with a hair dryer to make sure it was bone dry then again sealed the covers with a polish spray to seal each cover they are still mould free ,
I now live in a bungalow and the floprs are solid concrete still cold so far the records are damp free i do use the plastic record sleeves to protect each record now and try not to house too much vivyl close together so they are not tight
I think you need to let air circulate around your vinyl so try not to squash them tightly this i find now helps me.
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