Re: [ARSCLIST] Wax on 78 rpm records

[Eric Jacobs <ericj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Active ingredient in Windex is NH4OH (Ammonia Hydroxide, aka "Clear
Ammonia).

5 parts Clear Ammonia to 95 parts distilled water should do the trick.  The
clear ammonia from the super market (oderless, clear) is already a 10%
NH4OH dilution, so this 5/95 mix is basically a 0.5% ammonia solution.  I
like it a bit better than Windex only because I know what's in it (ie
what gives Windex its blue color and odor?).  Also, this 0.5% ammonia
solution is weaker than Windex - so it puts your shellacs at less risk,
since we know that some shellacs are easily damaged by ammonia.

Eric Jacobs
The Audio Archive


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Dan Kj-
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 4:07 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Wax on 78 rpm records


I used 'lemony' spray polish on some of my Pathe records, long ago.  It did
seem to reduce surface noise a little ( subjective assessment) & also made
the dull, black Pathe paper labels look pretty.  About 10 years later, none
of them appear to have any damage.  One danger, though:  when I set one
'waxed' disc onto another one in a pile, they tend to ZIP right across each
other!    Some Windex on a cloth should remove the wax. (Yes, I've used
Windex & see no damage at all)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry McBride" <jerry.mcbride@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 6:47 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Wax on 78 rpm records


> Does anyone have any experience with 78s that have been waxed? In order to
> make them look good and shiny, a collector used Johnson's floor wax on his
> 78s. Maybe it made them sound better, too?
>
> Is there any safe way to get this off? Presumably, over time this will not
> be good for the recordings.