mold forms on cords, knobs, and tool handles

I also have a parts drawer with an assortment of old knobs and I recently had the same experience you have. Out of an assortment of about 25 there were 6 that had an off white coating similar to mold. The coated knobs were identical and appeared to come off the same piece of old test equipment. The rest of the knobs were perfectly normal. Thinking they were moldy I soaked them overnight in a clorox solution and it didn't phase them. So it definitely wasn't mold. But with soapy water and a old toothbrush they cleaned easily so I determined it was an old plastic compound reaction.

Contrary to what some are saying I don't think you have a health problem in your dry basement.

Some Craftsman tools with plastic handles left in a car trunk or hot toolbox for a long time often get real stinky. That again is the type plastic they use and giving them a soapy bath usually helps a lot.

Reply to
Red
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Maybe a photo will help: This is a drawer from my steel Craftsman toolbox that I don't use very often. The white stuff is the alleged "mold". Note that it's on two of the handles, but not the others. The larger tools are made by Vaco. The blue and the yellow handles are covered with the stuff. However, the other handles, from the same manufacturer, are pitted, but untouched. That's because they previously were cleaned and coated with a very thin layer of Krylon clear acrylic. I'm not sure why the blue and yellow handles are affected. I probably just forgot to coat them (about 18 months ago). There is no rust anywhere inside the toolbox on any of the other tools, so it's not moisture accumulation or consensation.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

*Plastic* dust that grows? Sounds like a new life form! :) The OP did not say what exactly is he doing in the workshop but I am pretty sure if it was something that creates a lot of dust of any kind, he'd mentioned it.

Perhaps it's technically not mold per se (not fungal) but it's still biological

- you've touched the handles, you've left some residue behind (sweat, skin flakes), bacteria are thankful for it, eat it and multiply. Still the same type of concern as with mold - something grows in your basement that you don't want. I would think some air movement and dryer air, just like with mold, would help and perhaps introduction of UV light in there wouldn't hurt either. Like those disinfecting lights in hospitals.

Also, I would think that just wiping the handles with alcohol would do pretty much the same thing as spray-painting Krylon on them - it will kill most of the bacteria that's on in now (though not all of course) and will simply delay its growth until some later point in the future when bacteria will inevitably catch up if they still have something to feed on.

Reply to
DA

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Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Read what I scribbled again. The alleged mold does NOT form colonies and does not grow.

Rumor has it that there is intelligent life on this planet. I have yet to find any. Perhaps plastic life is a good start.

Mine shop has very little dust, is quite dry, and still manages to create plastic life.

I didn't try the UV, but I originally tried to kill the "mold" with X-14 cleaner and Chlorox bleach. Neither would touch it.

I tried alcohol, which sorta cleaned off the handle. However, it was mostly aggressive scrubbing, not the alcohol that did the cleaning. I got better results with paint thinner and soapy water. Even so, I still had to scrub hard. The last time I ran into this stuff, I just used sandpaper, which removed everything almost instantly, deglossed the surface, and left a few pits. I probably could have returned the gloss with a hot air gun or propane torch, but decided to use clear Krylon instead. Next time, I'll try the torch.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

I'm sorry to say that but fossil record shows pretty convincingly that in the epic battle of Jeff vs. bacteria, Jeff is not going to be a winner. Not in the long run anyway :) I think taking a torch to your tools might damage perfectly good tools and only slightly delay the bacterial world domination.

I'm wondering what dumping the tools into a tank with infusoria culture might do to the growth. At the very least should make for a great show with awesome battle sequences, provided by you have a strong enough microscope :)

Unless the handles become slippery (and that would definitely be mold), I think I would just live with slightly less shiny tools and perhaps wipe the handles with alcohol every once in a while when it bothers me too much.

Reply to
DA

My adult daughters say the same about me :-(

Reply to
Doug

micky wrote on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:21:50 -0500:

micky wrote on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:21:50 -0500:

Does it look like this?

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Or this?

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The former I always attributed to some kind of persistent "moldy" like white paste (which I've long ago painstakingly scraped off handle that tool you see in the picture so that only remnants remain)

The other is on my pool pump - which - you can imagine - isn't mold but a white chemical covering (calcium carbonate?).

So, the first question, is whether it's a mold or a chemical? Note: I don't know the answer for either of my tools above.

Reply to
Bill Rotham

micky wrote on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:21:50 -0500:

Does it look like this?

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Or this?

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The former I always attributed to some kind of persistent "moldy" like white paste (which I've long ago painstakingly scraped off handle that tool you see in the picture so that only remnants remain)

The other is on my pool pump - which - you can imagine - isn't mold but a white chemical covering (calcium carbonate?).

So, the first question, is whether it's a mold or a chemical? Note: I don't know the answer for either of my tools above.

Reply to
Brian Berg

That's exactly my experience.

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The plastic on the handles was coated with a thin white layer which I could scrape off with a sharp tool (the results in that picture are of a screwdriver scraped years ago, but some of the persistent white stuff is still on the handle, in spots).

I don't know WHAT it is!

Like you experienced, it wouldn't 'wash' off and chlorine bleach didn't faze it (of course, if it 'is' mold, it would be dead but still there if bleach did kill it, since it's white).

I don't know if it's a "mold" or a "chemical". It does seem to 'infect' other tools - but both a mold and a chemical 'can' do that (think hydrochloric acid).

Reply to
Brian Berg

That's EXACTLY what this screwdriver USED to look like!

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So, whatever it is, it's common.

Again, I don't know if it is a mold or a chemical. It does NOT happen to all tools of the same type.

It just happens to select tools which were stored in a different environment (I think my affected screwdrivers were used when I worked at a hospital on oxygen respirators).

Reply to
Brian Berg

Migration to the surface of a plasticizer, or an un-cured acrylic monomer, followed by oxidation?

Reply to
Dave Platt

Wow. The real Jeff Liebermann (two n's and i-before-e) on alt.home.repair.

I'm impressed. You're the expert in the SC mountains for wireless radio. Glad to have you here.

I am VERY FAMILIAR with this persistent "white stuff". I have no idea WHAT it is - but I have it too.

It's either a chemical coating or it's a mold-like growth. It does seem to be hugely persistent, in that if you don't scrape it away, it will last (seemingly unchanged) forever.

I remember segregating my white-coated tools a while ago, but I no longer do that once I manually scraped them (mostly) clean.

I seem to remember that the white stuff "infected" other tools, but, it's no longer doing that (after twenty years). But, that white stuff you see in this photo is easily twenty years old!

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It had coated that screwdriver handle with a white persistent but powdery on the outside surface coating just like the picture the OP posted over here:

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I considered throwing the screwdrivers away, but, my sense of tool preservation had me soak that screwdriver maybe 15 years ago in all sorts of horrid solvents (acetone, bleach, acid, etc.) in my attempts to clean it off.

If anyone actually KNOWS what this white stuff is, I'd be curious!

Reply to
Brian Berg

The original message was crossposted to sci.electronics.repair, another of my hangouts.

Not much wireless happening lately. alt.wireless.internet is essentially dead. Wireless has become a commodity after about 15 years, which is a good thing.

I do. However, if you want a microscope photo, I'll bring the "moldy" screwdriver from home, put it under the microscope, and take some photos. I assure you that it's plastic, not spores.

Yep. It doesn't grow. Therefore, it's not mold.

My early Craftsman tools, when they were made by Miller Falls, do not collect plastic rot. The later Craftsman tools, probably made in China, have the plastic rot problem.

Grumble. That's my picture and I'm NOT the OP. The tools with the acrylic coating are kinda rough, but plastic rot. The two with plastic rot may have been added after I coated the others. I don't recall.

The only things that actually directly attacked the white stuff were mild plastic solvents. However, anything that dissolved the white stuff, also attacked the plastic handle, so that's not a good fix.

Send it to a pathology lab and see what they say.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Well, you can easily eliminate calcium carbonate (lime) as a possibility. Take some dilute hydrochloric acid (Muriatic Acid or pool chlorine), and smear it on the plastic rot. If it fizzes and belches gases, it's calcium carbonate. If it doesn't fizz, it's something else: CaCO3 + 2HCl -> CaCl2 +CO2 + H2O

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

micky wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Dont touch the utils with greasy fingers. That feeds the mould.

Reply to
Sjouke Burry

Well, you're famous for having the right answer in the electrical realm, so, I would have to give you the benefit of the doubt in the mechanical.

True. It just sort of sits there. Minding its own business.

Ooops. Sorry about that. Your picture, as always, was perfectly apropos! Too bad the OP didn't have the skills you have for Internet nntp work.

Come to think of it, VERY FEW people have your skills. You've helped me quite a few times (under various nyms) on the wireless side, what with that lousy set of WISPS in the SC mountains (yea, Brett, you know him as I do. He's nice enough - but he's too busy and harried to give you the technical time of day, and Dave, well, I'm glad I dropped them).

I seem to remember I soaked mine in a variety of nasty solvents, none of which worked - and then - about 10 years ago (or so, as I don't really remember), I just scraped them clean. Have been that way ever since.

I wish I had the following 'scopes ... a) microscope b) oscilloscope c) telescope

:)

Reply to
Brian Berg

I'll try that tomorrow as I have tons of pool acid (HCl).

Like you, I'll take a relevant picture, and let the world know the results.

Reply to
Brian Berg

If it is mold, I doubt shop grease would feed it as I don't think anything has evolved to eat grease just yet. Wait a few thousand years, and I'm sure they will.

Now, if you meant oily fingers (from human sebum), I'm sure LOTS of organisms find that yummy.

Reply to
Brian Berg

Bad idea. I jumped into sci.electronics.design with my ancient and obsolete experience. It appears that some things have changed in the last 20+ years. After shoving my foot firmly into my mouth several times, I've decided that I don't really know everything. Try not to assume that I'm always right, as I've made some rather spectacular technical screwups. However, it appears that I know more about management than many engineers, so I'm not a total loss.

Answering questions is easy. The real problem is that most people are not really well versed in the art of how to ask a proper question. Most of what I do rather well, is decoding such questions, reading between the lines as to what this person is really trying to accomplish, and then answering the questions they didn't ask. If I control both the question and the answer, it's all quite easy.

I wish you wouldn't do that.

You're not getting my microscope:

I have far too many oscilloscopes. I was about to fix some of them and put them on eBay. Make me rich and you can have one of them.

I do have a crappy 4.5" Celestron reflector with a few eyepieces that is cluttering up my bedroom. Can't see anything through the trees and I don't feel like freezing on some mountain top.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

You can have mutant oil eating bacteria today:

I usually wear blue latex rubber gloves when working with anything potentially nasty or messy. It's not really for protection but because I dislike cleaning up everything I touch afterwards. Black fingerprints on my (music) synthesizer keyboard is not a good thing.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

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