Evening star., 1947-09-02
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUeU.

Lear SlTs
"I have a fine collection of record albums,
mostly symphonies and have just discovered
that they are covered with nildew
Il love my records, and was at first afraid
that they, themselves, were covered with this
fine black stuff, but was relieved to see that
the mildew was confined to the outside Of the
albums.
us there any way can get the stuff of,
and what shall do to keep it off?
"We have several large trees close to the
house. Do you think these have anything to
do with it, or is 1t just the humidity?
Sincerely yours, A. VAN D."
***
II this correspondent will look more closely,
he also will find mildew on the inside covers
of the albums, in the crevices, and along the
tops and bottoms.
Mldew, in various colors and consistencies,
is fungus which delights In moist air and
closed places, where 1t can be free from the
drying effects of air In motion.
This gives us q hint.
An electric fan, played on a case Of record
albums several hours each day, will do much
to obviate 1t.
Not entirely. however-the pest will still
gather and cling inside the back and front
covers
There is nothing to do there except wipe off
pressure.
Too much pressure merely makes a smear
The correct way removes practically all the
mildew, unless 1t has stood too long time
Even then 1t takes most of 1t off.
The temptation to use one Of the liquid
cleansers is great but should be resisted, unless
one Is willing to make tentative experiments
Since water must be mixed with them, they
will injure any color that water itself will
streak or fade. Care must be taken to try out
the material on just a section of the album
taking especial pains not to get any on the
hest removed fr0nn the
album before any experiments are made.
Sometimes the slightly oily liquid which Is
advertised to clean old records will do fairly
good Job of taking mildew off the albums, II
the cloth in which 1t is dipped Is wrung out 50
that there is no drip at all. The cloth must
be practically dry.
The best way, however is to take box Of
tissues and use some elbow grease" and much
patience, in about the proportion of one part to
four.
BY carefully going over the albums, front,
back and sides, and devoting care to the
insides too most Of the mildew may be
removed.
Also with 1t goes the SOUR smell that makes
many homes so disagreeable in the early
morning.
1t is fortunate for record enthusiasts that
the discs themselves are too slick for the
nildew to stick to.
show spots of the stun, and now and then one
entire side may be covered. These may be
renovated by using the disc cleanser mentioned.
Such records will always harbor mildew, and
should be inspected at least once year.
There can be little doubt that trees too close
to house tend to build up the conditions
mdew like. The number of gallons Of water
transpired by a large tree in "a hours is
enormous, almost unbelievable, ranging into
the thousands for tree with a diameter Of
trunk of two feet.
An electric light may be burned near record
albums. This will, at least to some extent, hold
down the growth of the fungus materials.
The electric fan, played on the case. will do
the most. however, since 1t tends to give both
driving effect with air movement, both Of which
midew dislikes.
Once the heat Is on In the fall, the danger
of nildew to records is over until next summer.
Even II one has paid no attention to this
matter during the summer, 1t is best to go over
the entire stock Of records and albums before
winter comes, so that there will be less dried
spores to start UP again with the more humid
weather of the next summer.
With little care and patience, this may be
an interesting chore, bringing to light many
old works on discs which the owner had almost
forgotten he owned