marb67 said:
Some of my vinyl has got mould spores on the actual grooves that don't seem to shift with a record claning solution and microfibre cloth and carbon fibre brush.
Hi there. Sorry to hear this, what a pain.
marb67 said:
1) Would the Disco cleaner (on Amazon) do a good enough job of removal and general cleaning ?
Assuming you mean the Knosti Disco-Antistat: Yes, it does. I've successfully cleaned LPs from mildew on the playing surface. Don't use the solution supplied: there are various home-made solutions discussed
on this thread. I use distilled water with a teaspoon of white vinegar and a three drops of dishwasher rinse-aid. (I wouldn't use 50/50 water/vinegar, as suggested above, as the acid could etch the vinyl over time, and I certainly woudn't use a bleach-based solution as also suggested. This from the person who repeatedly advises other people to use washing-up sponges to clean records...)
And if you're cleaning mould from the records, do a first wash using tapwater (filtered, if possible) instead of distilled water in the solution. Throw this away after each mouldy record, to avoid transferring mould from one to another, and to avoid any nasty particles scratching later LPs, and run the brushes and basin under the tap to flush the machine out. Then do a second wash using distilled water, when your LPs should be pretty clean already. It's a bit of extra work, but you can rest assured your LPs should be free from mould for the future.
marb67 said:
2) Should I replace the paper sleeves, and what is reccomened ?
If you're going to the trouble of cleaning your discs, it would be worth putting them in to new, clean inners, yes. A bit pointless cleaning them and putting them back in to dusty or mouldy sleeves! Anti-static sleeves are best. Some people swear by those made by Nagaoka, but I use paper sleeves lined with thin polyethelene. There's a company called Covers33 which sells them online, or there are various sellers on eBay. If you buy in bulk you can get them fairly cheaply.
marb67 said:
3) Are polythene sleeves ok for general album cover protection ?
Again, assuming you mean outer sleeves for the whole LP package, artwork and all, then yes. Unless you're going to be chucking them around the room, or something! These are generally sold in two grades: 250g and 400g. I opt for the heavier as they are nicer to work with and offer a little bit more protection. I dislike PVC sleeves, even those are more heavy-duty, as they are stiff, have sharp edges and do tend to go brittle over the years. Unless you run a record shop and will be re-using the sleeves many times, poly sleeves are fine.
If your record outer sleeves also have mildew on them, I'd try to wipe this off with a very slightly damp cloth (you can use a wetter cloth, with the solution you made up for the Knosti, for better cleaning power if the sleeves are laminated). Then there won't be mould in the package ready to grow again.
Hope that's of some use.