On 07/10/2018 09:14 PM, Steve Malikoff via cctalk wrote: > 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.
Well, they're your disks. I've seen a system for reading magnetic tape where a continuous bath was used to combad sticky-shed, but there were no comments on the condition of the medium after reading. If these were my disks, I wipe them down with cyclomethicone. That would at least lubricate them and leave them (after evaporation) in pretty much the same state as you started. Remember that a fatty acid usually was used as a medium lubricant when these disks were manufactured. The last thing in the world you want to do is dissolve this and remove it. But, as I remarked, they're your disks. I've certainly seen my share of 8" CPT floppies--and 1960s 1/2" tape. --Chuck