Disinfecting records

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   Hi gang, 

After a big weekend of record shopping, I came to find 

dried mouse droppings in a bunch of the sleeves. I 

gather these could be toxic/fatal so I'd like to tread 

carefully. 

Has anyone had success cleaning (disinfecting?) records 

and picture sleeves without permanent damage? It seems 

most of the solutions online involve bleach, Lysol, 

etc., as vacuuming could spread viruses...so I wonder if 

there are any special tricks for record collectors. 

(I hope this isn't too far off topic; suspect a solution 

will be a good public service for many of us!)

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eric_a Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 29 June 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote eric_a Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Disinfecting records Posted: 18 August 2017 at 9:25am
	Hi gang, After a big weekend of record shopping, I came to find dried mouse droppings in a bunch of the sleeves. I gather these could be toxic/fatal so I'd like to tread carefully. Has anyone had success cleaning (disinfecting?) records and picture sleeves without permanent damage? It seems most of the solutions online involve bleach, Lysol, etc., as vacuuming could spread viruses...so I wonder if there are any special tricks for record collectors. (I hope this isn't too far off topic; suspect a solution will be a good public service for many of us!)

crapfromthepast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 14 September 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 107	Post Options Post Reply Quote crapfromthepast Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 August 2017 at 10:42am
	That's unfortunate! The records will survive a good washing. You can wash them like dishes, using Dawn or some other dish soap. Air dry or pat dry. Wash with the groove pattern. Also make sure that you don't thermally shock the record (water too hot or too cold), which can cause warping. I'm at a loss for the sleeves, though. In my hunting, if I encountered a moldy sleeve, I'd throw it out. Not sure about sleeves with mouse droppings, but I'd be tempted to throw those out as well, or at least seal them permanently in plastic.
	There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one Crap From The Past.