Re: [ARSCLIST] Recording Disc Preservation/Off-gassing?

[steven austin <stevena@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I didn't plan to test playability until I managed to get the tackiness
problem cleared up. I'd prefer to wash it out of the grooves rather than
use the plow. :)

Steven Austin

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steven C. Barr
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 8:01 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Recording Disc Preservation/Off-gassing?

----- Original Message -----
From: "steven austin" <stevena@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> I'd like to post two inquiries; this is the first.
>
> I have been collecting acetates for a while now. Sometime back in the
> early 1990s, I came across a box of the plastic outer sleeves with
flaps
> that were used by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs to package their
products.
> So, I put all my acetates into these sleeves and filed them away in
the
> stacks.
>
> Last week (maybe ten years after I put them in the plastic sleeves), I
> was moving some shelves and discovered that all these sleeves had
> puckered and the acetates were stuck to the sleeves with a light sheen
> of tacky goo, not much more sticky than a Post-It. However, the
surfaces
> of the discs now all have a pattern from where the goo met the pucker,
> so to speak. All the clear plastic sleeves showed a yellow-orange
ghost
> of the disc.
>
> One exception: if the acetate was in a paper sleeve inside the plastic
> sleeve, there was no tackiness or pattern on the disc. The
yellow-orange
> ghost of the disc, however, still appeared on the plastic sleeve. I
> could not be sure there was no discoloration of the several paper
> sleeves because they were a kraft color originally.
>
> Also, the reactions seemed to be contained within the plastic sleeves.
I
> saw no evidence that the sleeves reacted to poly bagged records in the
> cases where they were stored side-by-side. The plastic sleeves in
> question had flaps that, in the press of the stacks, would make them
> virtually air-tight envelopes.
>
> I panicked. (Librarians and archivists proceed with caution from here
> on.) I used cool tap water and a bit of non-allergenic soap with a
> cotton t-shirt to try gently to remove the goo and the patterns from
one
> of the few PVC test pressings that had been stored in one of these
> sleeves. The goo went away for the most part after two washings, but
the
> patterning stayed, along with a bit of tackiness. Completing this
feeble
> test, I put a hold on my efforts until I could do more research.
>
> I'm theorizing that the sleeve off-gassed and created a chemical
> reaction inside the sealed envelope, and the tackiness is the residue.
> The patterning reflected the puckering of the sleeve (imagine bubble
> wrap). This worked the same way on both acetates and PVC records. But,
> if either were in paper sleeves, nothing happened, even if the sleeve
> puckered like all the others and the yellow-orange ghost was
transferred
> to the plastic sleeve.
>
> Educated archivists would never make such a mistake, but perhaps
someone
> has experienced something similar; perhaps cleaning up after a donor's
> similar mistake?
>
> I would appreciate any advice that might suggest how to proceed in the
> removal of the goo and the patterning. I'll test any reasonable
> suggestions on my least dear victim.
The question would be whether this had any audible effect on the records
when they were played!
Steven C. Barr