I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water damage from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The records themselves appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have varying degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave me with two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

LnArth wrote:
I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water damage from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The records themselves appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have varying degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave me with two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?


You might want to consult with a bookor printed matter restoration
service. But I suspect it'd be much cheaper for all but the rarest of
the damaged albums, to just buy them at your nearest used LP shop.



--

-S.

"They've got God on their side. All we've got is science and reason."
-- Dawn Hulsey, Talent Director

Yes, I have had this problem in the past.
Like you, I've had perfectly good records with unusable jackets (almost) due to
water damage. I've found 2 solutions to the problem. The cheapest solution
hjas been to simply buy blank white cardboard record jackets for the damaged
records and then label them with something like a Dennison self-stick label.
(Jackets can also be had with a hole in the middle showing the record label,
but I don't like these as well as the solid jackets). The 2nd solution I've
come up with is to look on eBay for cheap replacements in which, due to the
playing condition of the record, the price is very low. In that case, you are
essentially looking to buy a decent record cover to use with your nicer copy of
the record.

Bruce J. Richman

Subject: Restoring Damaged record covers
From: Steven Sullivan
Date: 12/8/2003 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

LnArth wrote:
I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water damage
from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The records themselves
appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have varying
degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the
extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave me with
two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?


You might want to consult with a bookor printed matter restoration
service. But I suspect it'd be much cheaper for all but the rarest of
the damaged albums, to just buy them at your nearest used LP shop.


And *a lot* better for your health. Mold makes me so sick.

I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water damage from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house.

That wasn't the Mississippi-river flood of a few years ago, was it?
A lot of nasty stuff got washed downstream in those flood waters,
or so I hear.

The records themselves appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have varying degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave me with two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

You might want to consult with a bookor printed matter restoration
service. But I suspect it'd be much cheaper for all but the rarest of
the damaged albums, to just buy them at your nearest used LP shop.

Possibly safer, too. If the albums were flooded enough to allow mold
to grow on the covers, I'd be very concerned that mold/mildew might
have started to attack the grooves. I've heard of LPs becoming
essentially unplayable (very high noise levels) due to mildew damage,
just from being stored in a damp area.

At the very least, I'd recommend a thorough record-surface cleaning
for all of the vinyl which was flooded. This could be done by hand,
but would probably be best done using a wet-wash/vacuum system such as
a Nitty Gritty or VPI. It'd then be best to replace the sleeve with a
new one (paper ones are about $.20 in quantity, poly-lined paper about
twice that). If the cover shows any sign of mold/mildew damage it'd
be best to replace it, too (white cardboard covers can be had for $.50
in quantity).

I agree with Steve that simply replacing those LPs which can be found
in used-record stores may be the easiest approach. Irreplaceable ones
should be cleaned and rejacketed.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

LnArth wrote:

I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water
damage from a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The
records themselves appear unharmed but some record jackets are
badly warped and some have varying degrees of mold on them.Some
jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent of the
damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave
me with two copies of the albums and some might be difficult or
impossible to locate. Anyone have any experience with this type of
problem?

I've actually had to look into this, and discovered that it would cost
hundreds of dollars to restore even a single album cover.

PA

LnArth wrote:

I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water damage from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The records themselves appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have varying degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave me with two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

Wash the records in Dawn dishwashing detergent and dry thoroughly.
Chances are there is little or no damage to the vinyl. If you then have
a normal record cleaning ritual, do that after the washing.

The cardboard jackets are probably goners. If they are not too badly
warped and only slightly moldy, you may be able to spray them lightly
with chlorine bleach to kill the mold. Otherwise, buy some cardboard
record jackets and clean inner sleeves to store the records in.

I've bought used records like that from thrift stores with no problems
in playback of the records after they were washed.

-GP

Not bad advice, but since the records are not contaminated, I would
not bother with the heavy washing of those and simply replace the
inner sleeves of the records that had salvagable covers. In some cases
if you don't have a vacuum record cleaning machine, the contaminents
from a wash can be worse than the small amount of dust that was there
to start with.
If a cover has only a slight mold coating on part of it without bad
jacket distortion or missing artwork, you can usually just wipe that
clean with a damp rag. I would use some Lysol or similar anti-fungal
detergent in the water as a mild solution. You don't want to get the
record jackets wet and then rub them or you will just damage the
covers that look decent, just use the least amount of liquid that you
can to get away with wiping it off. Other than that, those jackets
beyond a slight cleaning should just be replaced. I have bought more
than a few records in poor condition just to get their healthy jackets
to store better copies of Lps in. Sort of like replacing the top cover
of a CD jewel box that has been cracked or broken, just more labor
intensive. You also have to be careful about which jacket you buy if
you want to keep them 100% historically acurate as their are usually
several pressings with various slight differences in jacket printing
or numbering. That may be a bit anal in this situation as you have a
lot of records to deal with, but that is something to consider if any
had real collectable value. If they did not, it may just be best to
throw away the worry about those that cannot be salvaged and move on.
- Bill
www.uptownaudio.com
Roanoke VA
(540) 343-1250
"Gene Poon" wrote in message
news:VpmBb.478719$HS4.3704371@attbi_s01...
LnArth wrote:

I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water
damage from
a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The records
themselves appear
unharmed but some record jackets are badly warped and some have
varying degrees
of mold on them.Some jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize
the extent
of the damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5
years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave
me with two
copies of the albums and some might be difficult or impossible to
locate.
Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

Wash the records in Dawn dishwashing detergent and dry thoroughly.
Chances are there is little or no damage to the vinyl. If you then
have
a normal record cleaning ritual, do that after the washing.

The cardboard jackets are probably goners. If they are not too
badly
warped and only slightly moldy, you may be able to spray them
lightly
with chlorine bleach to kill the mold. Otherwise, buy some
cardboard
record jackets and clean inner sleeves to store the records in.

I've bought used records like that from thrift stores with no
problems
in playback of the records after they were washed.

-GP

On 8 Dec 2003 21:09:47 GMT, "Paul Abelson"
wrote:

LnArth wrote:

I have a rather large number of vinyl records which received water
damage from a flood while in storage at a friend's house. The
records themselves appear unharmed but some record jackets are
badly warped and some have varying degrees of mold on them.Some
jackets are stuck together. I didn't realize the extent of the
damage because I was in another part of the USA for 5 years. One
solution would be to simply buy new records, but that would leave
me with two copies of the albums and some might be difficult or
impossible to locate. Anyone have any experience with this type of
problem?

I've actually had to look into this, and discovered that it would cost
hundreds of dollars to restore even a single album cover.

PA

You could look around for another collector who has good jackets and
do a scan of them.
Then take it to a print service and have either dye-sub or really
good laser prints made.
Buy plain plain white cardboard jackets and laminate the prints on.
Use a spray mount adhesive or some of the 3m sprays like 66 or 77.
This will give your collection some of it's original look and would be
cheaper than having the old restored.
OR shop the second hand record shops, flea markets and yard sales and
buy copies with good jackets.
When I had a vinyl collection I always bought rice paper lined
cardboard jackets and put labels on them.
The original jackets would either be framed for display or be stored
for future sales to collectors.