what the...? MOLD!

[frank]

so, last I posted, I was dealing with a flooded basement studio. after four days of pumping and three months of fans, the place is "kind of dry". I'm walling off a section and installing an air-conditioner to de-humidify it. 'til then I'm dealing with a MOLD EXPLOSION! I'm talkin' green-white-yellow fuzz on guitars and amps--it prefers vintage guitars and old tolex for some reason(?), but also mic and instrument cables.

question is: what can I wipe/spray on my gear to protect it, or at least, inhibit mold growth?

[Tragabigzanda]

Frank,

I had the exact same thing happen this past winter. Moldy vintage gear sucks!

First of all, you should invest in a good dehumidifier. Also, if there's that much mold, that means there's more humidity in the air than is safe for your instruments & gear. You can buy a humidigauge for very cheap (maybe $12?), and it will tell you what the humidity is it all times; somewhere in the zone of 30~60 is safe.

As for the mold, you can clean everything with normal under-the-sink cleaning products. Obviously, certain things like bleach would not be good for certain instrumets, but it'd be fine for others. But basically, this mold is growing from tiny bacteria/life that is on your gear that has been touched repeatedly by "dirty hands" (that is, regular hands that open doors, blow noses, and eat falafel). I gave my moldy gear a good scrubbing with hot water and various cleansers (wear a mask! you don't want to be breathing that mold as it breaks up!), then experimented for a few days with the dehumidifier to find a setting that would force it to click on when the air got too damp, and to click off when it got too dry. For the remainder of my time in that space (maybe six more months?), my stuff was mold-free, and the air war a perfect 42% humid.

Good luck! I know your pain!