Blue mold on the entire bellows

[werewolf255]

Hey everyone!

I picked up an accordion of questionable repute and found some mold growth on two of the reeds, but wanted to ask this forum about the bellows.

It seems to be covered in blue/purple mold. I'm fairly sure it's mold at this point, and have worn protective equipment from the start, but there's just so much of it. Inside of the bellows looks clean though, and overall it's in fair shape.

I'm already resigned to recovering the reeds from this one, mostly looking to add more info for future people who come across a similar situation.

 

[debra]

You could start by a good clean (perhaps using a powder cleaner as sold to clean carpets) and then spraying the bellows with an anti-fungal (transparent) spray.
But if the accordion is still worth it I would just order new bellows.

 

[werewolf255]

Thanks @debra! I'm going to try giving them a hard clean once it's warm out today, but am already looking to source new bellows as an alternative.

It's been stripped of most identifiers, but the configuration (21 bass) and the service marks inside lead me to believe it's an old Yamaha. Reeds sound quite lovely though.

 

[Ventura]

because the fold skins are black, and because the "mold"
apparently did not migrate to the inside, i am going to
say this may just be from the time when bellows were
sometimes done artistically, with a print on the canvas
that covers the cardboard

 

[losthobos]

I'm with Ventura
Looks like artistic license to me ....

 

[JerryPH]

Mold is generally not blue/pink/purple, it is green/brown/black. It’s not likely mold, but since there was mold on the reeds it was likely inside the accordion. The powder method suggested may be a good idea on most surfaces with a strong cleaning/wiping down after some disassembly.

 

[werewolf255]

I did ultimately (gently and in one piece) cut the bellows off after no products caused a reaction. There's paint damage and a missing corner that need to be fixed first, so I feel pretty confident I'll be able to reverse the process with some appropriate glue and reuse the bellows.

Hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and a mild citric acid didn't do anything, nor did the powder cleaner . I managed to wipe away a thin layer in a test area after rubbing hard with some alcohol, but it didn't take more than the top film.

I peeled back the sections of tape I was going to replace anyway, and included closeups. The tape which was facing the adhesive side is completely clean, and the blue marks are very much correlated with the bellows material itself.


Buying accordions in general has me extremely cautious about mold/mildew, and finding some fuzzy reeds may have raised the old anxiety above my usual baseline. Thank you all for your responses and reassurance!

 

[debra]

If nothing helps, order new bellows. Normally I would suggest to just send one fold to the bellows maker of your choice, because then you cannot get the dimensions wrong (and you just have order the right number of folds). But with mold they may not want that so then you have to measure carefully and maybe send along one metal corner if you are unsure about ordering the right size and curvature for the corners.

 

[Dingo40]

i am going to
say this may just be from the time when bellows were
sometimes done artistically, with a print on the canvas
that covers the cardboard

I'm with Ventura: it looks too "regular" and even to be mould. Also, if doesn't seem to respond to treatment like mould would.
It's likely to be some kind of colourant: part of the decor?

 

[JKJ]

Doesn’t look like and mold I’ve seen. Could take a tiny scraping and get someone experienced to look at it with a microscope. Mold is quite distinctive under magnification. For example Google microscope images of mold.

 

[werewolf255]

Doesn’t look like and mold I’ve seen. Could take a tiny scraping and get someone experienced to look at it with a microscope. Mold is quite distinctive under magnification. For example Google microscope images of mold.

I used a cotton swab and went back to my test spot until I got some color on the swab. I have a digital microscope for watch repair, and from what I read, I -should- be able to see spores with enough magnification.



It's a little fuzzy since I was holding it still, but it really just looks like dyed cotton to me at this resolution.

I also rubbed the newly dyed swab on a culture medium (filter paper with glue in a humid ziploc bag) then left it in a warm place, so I should get results in a day or two if it clearly shows more of the blue color.

 

[Dingo40]

I'd say, if it were mould, your nose would soon tell you ( by running and the odour).

 

[Pipemajor]

Mold is generally not blue/pink/purple, it is green/brown/black. It’s not likely mold, but since there was mold on the reeds it was likely inside the accordion. The powder method suggested may be a good idea on most surfaces with a strong cleaning/wiping down after some disassembly.

I've seen most of those colours on my weekly fix of Stilton

 

[werewolf255]

It's been a few days and I can't get that blue color to culture at all. I'm feeling fairly confident at this point that it is cosmetic. I think the mold that is present is confined to an area of the bass machine that had some previous water ingress

 

[Caps]

I've seen fabrics with mold that were treated to kill the mold and after treatment the fabric was tinted a blue color where the mold was growing.
Having said that, it just doesn't look like mold to me - perhaps intentional pattern dyeing? open it up and look inside the bellows.

 

[JerryPH]

I think it was already discussed that this wasn't mold??

 

[Caps]

I think it was already discussed that this wasn't mold??

You're right of course, I clicked on the email notification and then gave an answer without looking at the rest of the thread.