Mold or mildew on my blu ray discs - help! (1 Viewer)

[Doug Pyle]

Not long ago a disc froze in my Oppo. The disc had a white smudgy streak. After examining my disc collection, almost all the discs in black cases (typically with the “4K Ultra HD” logo at top), and only in black cases, had similar growth. It was not easy to clean off with filtered water and microfiber cloth, it required using some anti mold/mildew cleaner (Sporacidin) added to the water and more (gentle) scrubbing than I feel comfortable with on a precious blu ray disc to clean it off, but after this effort it played fine including after using the anti fungal cleaner which I hope will deter regrowth.

Odd that the clear blue cases and other materials in cases didn’t have the growth, just the black cases, and nearly all of them. And the black cases were worse than the discs they held, some coated from corner to corner with the white film like growth. The growth appeared to begin on the case then the discs, likely where pressure might cause contact with disc surface.

As a stopgap I’m ordering a bunch of blue color translucent cases from amazon. I do live in a somewhat humid climate with year-round air conditioning. But until now, with decades of collecting, nothing grew on my discs- and why only those in newer black cases?

Anyone else experience a similar problem? Any suggestions for prevention and better ways to clean or treat discs with mold or mildew? I’ll try to get a photo and post that soon.

Any knowledge or tips appreciated!

 

[Indy Guy]

I have one black case 4K like you described. The disc had minimal coating and was easy to clean, but the case was not. It was purchased new online looking like this. I assumed it was a production material fluke. I can't remember the title as I put the disc in a replacement case. This was within the last year, and something I have not encountered again. I live in a hot but dry climate in summer with normal temp in winter, but this came packaged in this condition.