Chuck reckoned > No, no, no! Do not use isopropanol to clean floppies--you'll wind up > with a soft oxide coating and a brown rag. Were these mine, I'd first > remove them from their jackets and then bake them and then clean them > with distilled water and perhaps a couple of drops of a wetting agent > (Kodak Photo-flo is a good) choice--a couple of drops goes a long way). > > You should be good to go--at least my experience tells me that.
Well, I suggested IPA (to Chuck's horror) so decided to put my money where my mouth is and try it myself. Using a 38-year old 8" IBM Diskette 1 (128-bit sectors) that I had lying around (it's physically damaged) I proceeded to clean it with high-grade IPA and a cotton bud as I suggested. After a good scrubbing, no detectable oxide came off at all. It even looked a tiny bit cleaner on the area I tried. Photos: Diskette: http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/diskette_1.jpg Before: http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/diskette_before.jpg After: http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/diskette_after.jpg So there you have it. I'm not asserting that all diskettes were manufactured as well as this IBM one but I stand by what I suggested, I would certainly try IPA again if I had to. By the 1970s I would think a diskette surface had come a long way from my dad's RAMAC days and even the 1/2" magnetic tape from the 50s and 60s, where I would be considerably more reticent trying this. Steve.
