How to restore moldy Kodachrome slides ?

[Luddite Frank]

Just got back from visiting with my parents, and Mom showed me a big box full of photos from about fifty years ago; among them, at least two boxes of mounted Kodachrome slides of my Dad and my older brother when has a toddler (early 1950's).

Unfortunately, the surfaces of the transparencies appear to have mold spots; otherwise, they still look good - the colors are still quite vivid.

These are almost certainly the only copies of these images, and I would like to preserve / archive them.

Is there a DIY proceedure for cleaning moldy slides, or is this best left to professionals, and whom ?

I am thinking it might be wise to scan them as-is before any attempt is made to clean them ?

What to do ?

Thanks in advance !

Luddite Frank

 

[ReeRay]

Pec-12 solvent and Pec-Pad non abrasive wipes.

Important to use a hurricane blower first to remove any dirt/grit particles. Then use a sensor cleaning brush to ensure all is grit free. Apply solvent to the wipes and NOT the slide/neg. Wipe over and allow to dry which only take a few seconds. Although the recommendation is NOT to re-apply the solvent I found that this did not harm the slides. In fact I repeated the procedure many times and did not lose one slide. Slight polish afterwards with a CLEAN lens cloth.

I was in a similar position some years back with a lot of scummy slides and the above worked fine for me.

As you have mentioned I did scan them before cleaning as an added precaution.

Hope this helps