My mother has hundreds of vinyl (well, not really sure what you call them) 33 records and they have horrible water damage. They have mold all over them, and I was wondering if water damages it permanently? Can I put something on them to remove the mold?

Thanks, Love GElissao.

5 Responses to “How do I fix water damaged vinyl records?”

1. matt g on August 16th, 2009 9:28 pm

   good question

2. Bricky Local 9 PA on August 18th, 2009 11:26 am

   water shouldnt hurt them…should be able to wash the mold off with a warm water bleach solution…and a soft cloth

3. oldman49_2000 on August 20th, 2009 12:23 am

   Gilissa, You may wash the records in a warm water bath of water and Lysol ,,not to strong,,and use a very soft brush such as a camel-hair paint brush or possibly a discarded make-up brush. Wet the record and brush clean in a circular motion following the record grooves. Rinse clean in cool water. Hopefully the water is a good quality and does not have lots of mineral content. Blot excess water and lay on soft towel to dry. Be careful not to let the label get to soft and come off. Avoid the use of harsh cleaners such as Windex/ammonia. Expect the first time that you play the record you may experience some pops and cracks from the audio as the stylus hits the dirt that may be remaining. Be sure to change the stylus needle on a regular basis to protect from excessive wear. Do not put them in the dishwasher !!! Good Luck !

4. i138152930 on August 23rd, 2009 4:23 am

   They are called Long Playing 33 rpm records (hence the term LPs). They play at a 33 revolution per minute speed. Unless they are pitted or somehow the deposits have damaged the vinyl, you should be able to clean them up using denatured alcohol and rinse with distilled water. Don’t use soaps or chemical cleaners – will leave deposits, unless it is specifically made to clean vinyl records. They should clean up with the alcohol and water treatment. Don’t scrub either or do anything else that will leave scratches. If you want a commerical cleaning solution try the included link.

5. James M on August 25th, 2009 4:53 am

   First, do not wash these records in ordinary tap water nor use any detergent of any kind on these vinyl records. That will cause failure of the small grooves that send back the signals thru the Stereo’s needle and into the amplifier unit of the stereo..

   To clean records, even those that were made a few years ago by RCA Video disc, you must use a deionized or distilled water supply which is both organic and mineral free. That is an absolute must.

   To the first bath of water, you need to add a surfactant, that chemical is available in commercial cleaning supply houses in liquid form. Start with about 5 table spoons of surfactant to about a gallon of water. Soak the records in a stack in that combination of solution for no more than 5 minutes then rinse off with deionized or distilled water flushing them off cleanly using a pressurized spray that can come from an ordinary garden sprayer that you hand pump up the pressure within. Careful to save the label information dont be harsh on that. .

   Stack them into a grooved fixture made of wood so they can dry off nicely. These records will play the best when cleaned in this manner, good as new in fact. Never ever use such things as harsh cleaners on vinyl recorded surfaces and particularly no Chlorine or Strong bottled spray cleaners.

   On the mold, that will come off nicely in the bath ive mentioned above and spraying them clean with the pressurized plastic garden tank with deionized or distilled water will leave them absolutely clean free of minerals and organic matter.

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