Vinyl Storage

[Nick Danger]

Curious to know how you folks store your LP's as I have recently changed up how I store mine. I now load the outer jacket into plastic sleeve with the opening of the plastic sleeve pointed up, jacket inserted so you cannot access opening and inner sleeve outside of the jacket with its opening facing upwards, too. Easy access to the vinyl and I can read the spines of the albums on my shelves. The downside is that they take up a wee bit more space on the shelves.

I have been told that storing them this way also cuts down on ring wear.

 

[Northwinds]

Yep, same way I do it also Doug. As long as the record is not in the jacket, you will get no ringwear. I always leave the mouth of the sleeve at the top though, that way a record can't roll out of the polycover inadvertently

 

[Nick Danger]

Yep, same way I do it also Doug. As long as the record is not in the jacket, you will get no ringwear. I always leave the mouth of the sleeve at the top though, that way a record can't roll out of the polycover inadvertently

Agreed, Ron. I store mine with the outer sleeve opening up. That way all I have to do is turn the LP on it's side and I get the album to "roll" right out. Seems like keeping the record outside of the jacket would keep the glue from splitting on some of my older LP's.

 

[Northwinds]

Yes, you eliminate potential seam splits also. These usually happen when a jacket is mishandled and the record blows through a seam completely or starts a seam split in the center of a seam that just gets progressively worse

 

[Nick Danger]

Yes, you eliminate potential seam splits also. These usually happen when a jacket is mishandled and the record blows through a seam completely or starts a seam split in the center of a seam that just gets progressively worse

Shipping always seems to be a big cause of seam splits, too. I request that vinyl is shipped outside of the jacket when possible to reduce/ eliminate 'em.

 

[Dazen1]

That seems like a sensible way of storing your records.

One of the chief reasons I moved away from vinyl were issues regarding storage and handling.

I have similar concerns with my CDs. I don't mind the jewel cases but digipaks and mini-LP style packaging get easily damaged if you are not careful.

One thing to also keep in mind with both formats is discolouration of the spines. Excessive exposure to sunlight and air pollution will cause damage over time.