oh no... Fungus!

Dear all,

anyone out there know any way of preventing silver discs (cd's) from becoming all fungus coated?

I'm constantly taking out older discs and having to wash them with a mild soapy solution to clean out the fungus, but wonder if there is a way of preventing fungus growing in the first place... anyone?

Many thanks, and wishing everyone a wonderful X' mas and end of year holidays!

Bal.

Storing cd's in average to high humidity will support fungus growth, unfortunately. If stored in the open, considering most homes are quite humid anyhow (which also promotes amplifier rca sockets become corroded in due course), cd's are almost sure to be tainted with fungus in good time.
You could buy those plastic re-sealable envelopes and pack every cd in its own envelope which may protect them for a longer time. You can buy these at computer shops. Perhaps putting some dehumidifiying packs from supermarket or Daiso may help reduce the humidity.
Of course if one can build a cd storage cabinet like a camera lens storage where its supposed to protect lens from fungus infection..that could be ideal but unsure if anyone will go that far.
In my own time, I've seen fungus not only taint the cd but also the paper inserts. Unfortunately, cd inserts can also deteriorate, become yellow, rust like spots or discolor to any extent. I guess this is because some inserts are not entirely of good quality or recycled paper. Great quality paper with least moisture will not yellow or have rust spots. I suppose this is another science altogether. Can't have everything ideal lor... if fungus found..I wash them with bar hand soap only.

In our humid climate the only way to prevent fungus is to make sure the humidity in your room or CD storage space is kept in check. Humidity level has to be kept at 55% or less RH. RH stands for Relative Humidity.

You either turn on your air conditioning and monitor the RH level through a hygrometer or buy a powered camera dry box and store your fungus prone stuff in there. I'd recommend the dry box option as it only consumes 15watts or less to operate 365 days yearly without making an impact on your electricity bill.

Merry Christmas to you too!

Hi Bimmerman...

I place the de-humidifier packs in my CD cabinet.

cheers

Hey Wingman,

The problem with de-humidifier packs and other forms of desiccant such as silica gel is that once they have soaked up moisture to their fullest capacity, they start releasing moisture back again and this coupled with the moisture in your living environment will make things even worse. In the tropics such as Malaysia, those packs will be all but useless in less than a months time.

I've been there and done all that. I've even fried my silica gel in a wok, Yen style to get rid of the absorbed moisture and when I got lazy, the fungus came back. Less than 1 week in a non air-conditioned environment. I've lost thousands in photographic lenses that way. For a long term solution a powered dry box is still the most cost effective, maintenance free solution.

My collection are mostly packed in those resealable plastic jackets for many years now but its not entirely foolproof. I realise my room humidity is somewhat 75% (my room humidity meter on the wall) and that does help to some extent. There's only so much we can do to prevent fungus.

CMboy, you've got it all in ziplock bags, that's quite alright. But if you put desiccants inside those bags and don't monitor their condition then after they've soaked up all the moisture, they'll begin releasing moisture back in and that's going to be a problem. 75% RH is quite high but your CDs will be safe in those bags for at least 5 years without desiccant.

I've had reasonable success with these plastic jackets (not ziplock type) and fungus have been either very minimal or still prestine as ever. I just live in a common type home and I don't think I can reduce the humidity to below 75%. I wish I could afford some dehumidifying equipment, but can't afford it. I think I've done good so far. However I do spend time periodically to pull out batches of them cd's which have not seen the light of day for so long, and inspect them one by one, then do the neccessary wash. So far so good. I don't mind fungus, rather than lend my precious cd to some idiot who brings it back scratched.

Well, you don't have to control the humidity in your house, you just need to control the humidity in a storage space. A powered dry cabinet is not that expensive. Take a walk around Low Yat and compare prices. I got mine for RM350 about 10 years ago. Possibly cheaper now too. You don't need a very big one. Just enough for the CDs that you don't listen to that often. How about that?

THANKS everyone, for chipping in with your experiences and thoughts...saves me time and money by stopping me from doing the things that don't work.

Cheers! Much appreciated.

Bal.