Moldy Vinyl Records

The condition of vinyl records has a direct impact on their sound quality.

Moldy vinyl records.

Mold and mildew eat vinyl records leaving them pitted and noisy. Wipe the record gently with a soft cloth to remove dust and dirt. Fortunately cleaning is a simple task when the right tools are available. Music direct has a good selection of these.

Use a microfiber cloth to lightly scrub and dry the record. To get a deeper clean apply a liquid cleaning solution to the surface of the record. These are typically very expensive. Work along the grooves of the record and adjust your cloth so you don t re dirty the record as you go.

Follow the steps in each section below to remove the mold and restore your records to their old glory. The most important consideration is to avoid damaging them further during the cleaning process. If you want to sell your records in the future you can keep the original jackets but keep them apart and do not put the record inside when you sell it. Though the return of raising the grade of the record might be worth it for those looking to sell many records.

Mold is a serious problem when it comes to lp records and their covers. With one hand hold the record with your palm and with the other move the brush in a circular motion about 10 times. Once the whole surface of the record is wet grab the record brush and get it wet. For those that need to clean a lot of records consider buying a record vacuum or vinyl record cleaning machine they will significantly reduce the time needed to clean each record.

Separate the records and store them in new jackets and sleeves. Vinyl records are now considered antiques which means they can often be found in garages basements and other places where mold could be lurking.