Cleaning and housing phonograph discs

This is in response to Norma Helmer's request for info on cleaning and
packaging lps.

A vacuum cleaning machine is the only practical way to clean a large
collection of discs. A vacuum machine is recommended over hand cleaning
because it pulls virtually all dirt and mold off of a disc's surface.
Hand cleaning removes some debris but also smears some around. Vacuum
machines are available for as little as about $ 150 (from the Audio
Advisor, see below). The Nitty Gritty Company also has a very basic unit
for about $ 239. Nitty Gritty offer several alcohol-based cleaners which
are designed to remove dust, dirt, and mold release compounds.

If you can't purchase a unit, perhaps you could arrange to borrow or
rent one from a library in your area.  I have heard stories of people
using Ivory dish soap to clean lps but I don't think it is such a hot
idea because it is very labor intensive, it is unavoidably messy, it is
easy to soak and damage disc labels, and you must use pure water and
lots of it to rinse the soap off. I would also not use Lysol, Photo Flo,
bleach, or straight alcohol.

Once the records are cleaned I suggest you re-sleeve them into
high-density polypropylene inner sleeves. These are available from a
number of suppliers (see list below). They will fit into the original
cardboard sleeves.

Disc vacuum cleaning machines and disc cleaning products:

    Keith Monks Audio Laboratory  Nitty Gritty Record Care Products
    c/o Allied Broadcasting Equipment  4650 Arrow Hwy #F4
    3712 National Road West       Montclair, CA 91763
    Richmond, IN 47374            909-625-5525
    317-962-8596

    VPI Industries
    77 Cliffwood Ave. # 3B
    Cliffwood, NJ 07721
    908-583-6895

    Discwasher                    The Last Factory
    2950 Lake Emma Road           2015 Research Drive
    Lake Mary, FL 32746           Livermore, CA 94550
    800-325-0573                  510-449-9449

Record jackets, reels, boxes and containers:

    Shield Pack, Inc.             3M
    2301 Downing Pines Road       3M Center Building, 223-5N-01 West
    Monroe, LA  71291             St. Paul, MN  55144-1000
    800-551-5185

    University Products           Conservation Resources
    P.O. Box 101                  8000 H Forbes Place
    Holyoak, MA  01041            Springfield, VA 22151
    800-628-1912                  800-634-6932

    Plastic Reel Corporation      Audio "78" Archival Supplies
     of America                   P.O. Box 187
    Brisbin Avenue                San Anselmo, CA 94979
    Lyndhurst, NJ 07071           415-457-7878
    201-933-5100

    Gaylord
    Box 4901
    Syracuse, NY  13221-4901
    800-448-6160

Record jacket inner sleeves

    Angstrom                      Audio Advisor
    210 S. 8th Street             225 Oakes SW
    Lewiston, NY 14092            Grand Rapids, MI 49503
    Specify Nagaoka sleeve # 102  800-942-0220

    db Audio                      Mobile Fidelity
    2573 Shattuck Avenue          1260 Holm Road
    Berkeley, CA 94704            Petaluma, CA 94952
    510-548-8733                  800-423-5759
    Specify high-density          Specify "Original Master"
    polypropylene lp sleeve       lp sleeve
    ($ 15.00/100)

    Stylus cleaners
    (Ultrasonic)                  (Brush)
    Signet                        The Last Factory (see above)
    4701 Hudson Drive             Discwasher (see above)
    Stow, Ohio 44224
    216-668-9400

Mark Roosa
Huntington Library

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:63
                  Distributed: Thursday, March 3, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-63-001
                                  ***