moldy gibson

[scott gannon]

OK my beloved '39 J55 is being eaten by mold. How can I kill it? Every year it gets worse, so it seems. I have cleaned the exterior with naptha, but the interior needs something and I don't know what to do. Please help.     Thank You all.    scott

[Grahame Myers]

You're going to think I'm crazy, but try uncooked rice: Remove the strings, and then pour a pound or two (enough to shake around well), into the body and move it from one end to the other, and left and right for a while, till you think you've reached every corner. And then pour the rice back out again, and keep on shaking the guitar till the last grain is gone. You can also use a vacuum to suck out the last grains. After this treatment it should be squeaky clean inside. This is also good for getting rid of unpleasant odors too.

[Russell Vance]

The rice gig works, good for cleaning out decanters and water bottles as well. 

 

Question: do you keep the instrument in a guitar case and if you do I would take the case outside and leave the interior material in direct sunlight (opened) for a couple of days - the liners of guitar cases are notoriously bad as they hold moisture (and the attendant mould spours) very well.   Vacuum the case interior well and throw in a handful of new or rejuvenated silica gel moisture absorbent packs - maybe a couple inside the guitar as well when stored.  

[Grahame Myers]

Good call Russell, I only thought about the solution to the problem, without thinking about the cause :-)

[FRANK]

try sun light that kills mold and spray a anti fungal like for athletes foot .this is what I would do

[scott gannon]

Thank you all. Got a sack of rice, going to give it a try. A new case seems in order. Play on.