How to store new old vinyl? (e.g. thrift store LPs)
How to store new old vinyl? (e.g. thrift store LPs) Posted on: 10.12.2012 by Lizzie Hoesley SO I recently started collecting vinyl, and have been surprising myself because I go by album cover instead of beatport charts - different genres, of course, whatever is $1 at my local church thrift.Not complaining, got a playable copy of Elvis's Christmas Album for 50c today... (stray cats, nat king cole, crystal gale, etc) BUT they're, you know, nasty. I cleaned the vinyl before playing them, but I hate putting them back in the nasty sleeves and jackets - I know there are sleeves on amazon (clear, paper, or paper with plastic lining) as well as outer sleeves to put the whole jacket in, but I can't find replacement blank jackets (for if I want to put all the nasty cardboard into storage for the next poor soul who owns this collection) SO Do you vinyl guys just hack and cough? I have asthma and don't want a stack of naked vinyl on my desk, so how do you guys do it? Just keep them in paper sleeves? Or is there a good way (a la Jewel CD Cases in bulk, etc) Thanks for any tips! | |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by LmnLm3
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| Laurence Calisto 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by keithace
i'm ashamed |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 | i believeing basic sleeves is just fine.
Originally Posted by LmnLm3
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| Lizzie Hoesley 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by calgarc
I just realized that this is also an issue with records that come sans jacket in the first place - either the original was too gross, or lost, or it was a promo that wasn't jacketed... Been seeing such records around, but I didn't know how I would store them. |
| Lizzie Hoesley 10.12.2012 | SO I recently started collecting vinyl, and have been surprising myself because I go by album cover instead of beatport charts - different genres, of course, whatever is $1 at my local church thrift. Not complaining, got a playable copy of Elvis's Christmas Album for 50c today... (stray cats, nat king cole, crystal gale, etc) BUT they're, you know, nasty. I cleaned the vinyl before playing them, but I hate putting them back in the nasty sleeves and jackets - I know there are sleeves on amazon (clear, paper, or paper with plastic lining) as well as outer sleeves to put the whole jacket in, but I can't find replacement blank jackets (for if I want to put all the nasty cardboard into storage for the next poor soul who owns this collection) SO Do you vinyl guys just hack and cough? I have asthma and don't want a stack of naked vinyl on my desk, so how do you guys do it? Just keep them in paper sleeves? Or is there a good way (a la Jewel CD Cases in bulk, etc) Thanks for any tips! |
| Lina Rawie 11.12.2012 | I use this stuff for cleaning really dirty records: - It works in a similar way to wood glue, but it's not as messy to apply. It's like shower gel and even smells a bit like it. Spread it out on one side of the record, let it dry, then pull it off in one go, bringing all the crap that's got into the groove with it. It is quite a bit more expensive than using wood glue though, but it's the best stuff I've used outside of a proper record cleaning machine. |
| Lizzie Hoesley 11.12.2012 | dish detergent should be safe for polyvinyl chloride, I'm not doing any 78s, but the alcohol would dry quickly and cleanly... it took me almost half an hour last evening
to clean 7 records (the other half of my loot is still waiting for me.) I will try the alcohol and probably use straight 70%, already diluted. Thanks for all the tips, fellas! Much appreciated, for real - and thanks for that tip about contacting ebay sellers... never thought to do that before! Smart stuff... Thanks again, and happy holidays! (no where did I put that elvis christmas record...) |
| Tania Somppi 11.12.2012 | Detergent and water are a little caustic so you shouldn't really. PVA glue is good for a giggle and works really well. There's a few YouTube vids showing how to use it to peel off all the grime after the glue has set. Pure iso or iso and distilled water is my preferred method tho as it only takes a couple of seconds. There's usually a few sellers on eBay for sleeves. Always check to see if the seller has a phone no. or their own site as they're usually a little cheaper that way. |
| Lizzie Hoesley 11.12.2012 | Anyone have a good source for the outer sleeves? black or white? (white is nice for sharpie, but whatever I can get for a good price) Also, I cleaned mine with mild detergent in the sink with paper towels and rinsed to be sure the detergent was all gone and dried to prevent water spots. Does alcohol work much better? I might re-do them if you guys say it's worth it. |
| Tania Somppi 11.12.2012 | Yeah I use them and the black card outer sleeves too sometimes if the originals are bad. Clean the records with a mix of isopropyl alcohol and water (70% iso) with a thick microfibre cloth. I use an old spray bottle for the iso mix and a Rodec brush to get the deep crud out of the groove but a good microfibre cloth will do just as well. Vacuum the sleeves outside and dry them out in the sun or somewhere hot to kill off the mildew (don't put the vinyl in the sun or heat tho, cos they'll warp) Store upright in a milk crate or something similar so you can flicker thro them to find them, for now. |
| Lizzie Hoesley 11.12.2012 | good to know - I was actually looking at something like this. The plain paper without poly lining is like $20/100. These are safe to use as primary storage? That was my concern - I thought these were just replacements so you don't put vinyl in the cardboard bare and get dusty grooves. These are good enough to have a crate full without jackets? |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by LmnLm3
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| Lizzie Hoesley 10.12.2012 | Haha - so you guys went sans jackets and just used blank sleeves when moving about and it's safe enough? And do the paper ones make any dust? Are the paper lined with plastic types worth the extra $$? |
| Laurence Calisto 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by keithace
i'm ashamed |
| Margie Pavell 10.12.2012 | the first thing to do is to give the records a good cleaning. After that shake out the sleeve and cover. Buy new paper inner sleeves they are cheap. Only store them vertically. When I played solely vinyl my issue was putting the right record back in the right sleeve. |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 | i believeing basic sleeves is just fine.
Originally Posted by LmnLm3
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| Lizzie Hoesley 10.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by calgarc
I just realized that this is also an issue with records that come sans jacket in the first place - either the original was too gross, or lost, or it was a promo that wasn't jacketed... Been seeing such records around, but I didn't know how I would store them. |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 | its like a cd... as long as the surface with the data is protected you are good |
| Lizzie Hoesley 10.12.2012 | Thanks, guys - I know to store them vertically, believeing of getting an IKEA Expidit unit, those seem about sized for LPs... And yeah, some of these covers are totally open on the top or bottom, some are missing corners, and even the good ones, I can taste the mildew and/or mold, and I have bad asthma, so there's that. I'll keep the covers, of course, not burning them, just would rather them not be by my desk where I spend all my time. I checked Amazon, btw, and they have sleeves, but I didn't know if it's legit to keep them in just sleeves without jackets, and I found a couple vinyl specialty sites that sell blank jackets but they seem $1ea+ up to like $2.50ea (depending on how many...) Also, I know some DJs write notes on the covers - do they get blank white jackets, or are they just sleeves that they write on, and don't use jackets when playing sets? |
| Stanley Topoleski 10.12.2012 | you can get some sleeves from amazon or ebay in bulk you can also make your own out of carboard or thin baking sheets |
| Lina Rawie 10.12.2012 | How messed up are these records man? Haha. They all covered in dust and stuff? I guess it would depend just how messed up they are, but I always prefer to keep my records in their original sleeves if possible. If I had to replace the sleeves (and I would still keep the old ones), then I'd just buy some replacement blank sleeves off eBay. But when you buy old records you expect the sleeves to be beaten up sometimes. It's the "asthma" comment that has me wondering though.... Don't store your records laying down in a pile BTW, cos that can cause them to warp. |
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