[NJARC] Mildew -- how do you remove it easily, without damaging stuff??

[Dave Sica]

John,

I remember a long discussion about mold (or mildew) on radio knobs
somewhere else a while back (I can't recall where just now.) The gist of
it was: are you sure that what you've got is mildew? Some early plastics,
after a few decades, start to decompose and as they do a white powdery
coating forms on the knobs. It looks like mildew but it's actually
decomposed plastic. Supposedly knobs made using cellulose will support
mildew growth. One way to check is to apply some bleach diluted in water
and see if it makes the "mildew" go away. If it does not, then it's not
organic. I have tons of late fifies/early sixties TV knobs that fall into
this category. I originally thought they were moldy, but they are not. If
I recall correctly, the chemical composition of the substance is not
dangerous. The fact that your tool handel did not rust suggests that
maybe your problem is not related to humidity. 

Re: the dehumidifier suggested earlier. If you have high humidity, by all
means run a dehumidifier! Don't let your radios rust and mildew. And you
can never really get rid of the mildew smell once it gets into your books
and papers. If you have enough dampness to be a problem, you probably
already have a sump pump. Just run a hose from the outlet of the
dehumidifier over to the sump and voila!, no emptying required!

--Dave Sica


On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 13:51:44 -0700 (PDT) john ruccolo <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>
writes:
> Some platics seem much more prone to mildew than
> others, I'm not sure what the difference is.