It hurts.
Whether its a scratched surface, a bent sleeve, worn artwork, or a warped record, the damage can’t be undone.
But you could have prevented it in the first place.
Improper storage is the number one cause of damaged records.
But it doesn’t have to be.
That’s why I’ve compiled 8 quick and easy tips for you. Follow them and damaged vinyl due to poor storage conditions will be a thing of the past.
Contents
- 1 How To Store Vinyl Records Properly
- 1.1 1. Inner Sleeves Are Essential
- 1.2 2. Pair Your Inner Sleeve With An Outer Sleeve For Double Protection
- 1.3 3. Not A Fan Of Double Sleeves? Invest In Vinyl Bags
- 1.4 4. A Strong And Sturdy Shelf Wins The (Vinyl Storage) Race
- 1.5 5. Plastic Is Your Answer For Archive Storing
- 1.6 6. 46 To 50°F Is Vinyl’s Temperature Sweet Spot
- 1.7 7. Swipe Your Record Clean With A Cleaning Brush
- 1.8 8. Edges People, Edges!
- 2 How To Store Vinyl Records: Flat Or Upright
- 3 Vinyl Record Storage: Final Thoughts
How To Store Vinyl Records Properly
1. Inner Sleeves Are Essential
Having an inner sleeve for each of your vinyl records is the first crucial step to maintaining their quality. You need an inner sleeve that has a smooth and silky feel, in order to protect from scratching.
Warning: Avoid paper-like sleeves at all costs! These will act like sandpaper, slowly scratching away at the surface of your vinyl.
You can find affordable, good quality inner sleeves on Amazon, but be careful, because there are also a lot of bad ones on Amazon.
These work great and do not cost much at all.
Check out this great thread which debates the need for an inner sleeve.
2. Pair Your Inner Sleeve With An Outer Sleeve For Double Protection
Having just an inner sleeve is not enough. Pairing it with an outer sleeve that goes over the cardboard sleeve will go a long way to shielding your record from dust entirely.
Just like the inner sleeve, I recommend using a light and smooth material. Heavy plastic sleeves will weigh onto your vinyl, stick to your artwork, and peel it off over time. With this in mind, you also need a sleeve with plenty of room!
These sleeves are a great choice, and very inexpensive.
Still not sure whether you need an outer sleeve? Check out the video below to see exactly why.
3. Not A Fan Of Double Sleeves? Invest In Vinyl Bags
While the inner and outer sleeves protect the vinyl 90% of the way, the outer sleeve still leaves the vinyl exposed on one side.
How can you solve this?
Vinyl bags have a sealable fold at the top which keeps the vinyl airtight, giving you that extra 10% of protection.
These sleeves are actually sealable bags and work great.
Personally, I think using an inner and outer sleeve is sufficient for records in your everyday collection. But for long term storage or for collector’s items, I would definitely go with the extra protection of a vinyl record bag.
4. A Strong And Sturdy Shelf Wins The (Vinyl Storage) Race
When vinyls are piled high, or horizontal in this case, it can cause the shelving to collapse like a pack of cards. Your entire collection will be ruined in the blink of an eye.
I’ve put together 3 quick mini tips to keep your shelving balanced and strong:
- Invest in metal, L-shaped brackets to slip under each corner.
- Create your own labeled dividers. This not only helps with maintaining a balance throughout the shelves, but also maintains the organisation of your vinyl records.
- Don’t store different vinyl sizes together. Always group in sizes! This will add to the overall balance of your shelf.
Good stands for turntables generally work for storing vinyl as well, as long as your collection is not overly large.
5. Plastic Is Your Answer For Archive Storing
Prefer to store your vinyls away? Heavy duty plastic is your answer. You need a strong plastic box with a good handle grip on it. Cardboard is not strong enough and will not be safe for lifting.
6. 46 To 50°F Is Vinyl’s Temperature Sweet Spot
Surprisingly, vinyl can withstand low temperatures very well. It’s the heat that you need to worry about.
Anything above 120+°F (50°C) and your records will begin to warp. When storing them, cooler is better. It’s fine if you keep your records at room temperature, or around 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C), but it is better to keep records in long-term storage below 50°F (7 to 10°C).
Suppliers changed the material of vinyl as soon as they realized their current material was causing records to crack in cold temperatures. The softer and more pliable texture used today withstands these cold temperatures, but unfortunately can cause this warping effect when placed in a heated environment.
So, stick to 45 to 50°F (7 to 10°C) for records in long-term storage! And yes, this usually means that you can’t store your vinyl records in a garage, unless it is climate controlled. Garages tend to get too hot and humid in the summer months.
7. Swipe Your Record Clean With A Cleaning Brush
If you’re like me, you will have attempted to clean your vinyls with the end of your t-shirt at some point. And, like me, you will have thought to yourself, “hmm, good enough!”
No matter how soft your t-shirt is, its fibers can damage and scratch your vinyl. So what can you use instead?
Record cleaning brushes are a quick and easy way to remove dust and dirt. Simply place the brush on the vinyl, in line with its line pattern, and spin the record. A record cleaning brush will wipe off even the smallest amounts of dust and dirt.
If this isn’t enough, you can also purchase vinyl cleaning solution anywhere online. Simply spray onto the vinyl, avoiding the artwork and, using a microfiber cloth, wipe in a circular motion.
For much more on cleaning your records, check out our detailed guide.
8. Edges People, Edges!
Have you tried all these tips, buy you’re still not getting the sound you expect out of your records?
It’s most likely down to the way you’re physically handling them. Yes, it’s essential to store them with care, but you must also handle them with care.
Try and only touch the edges. Touching the surface too much will inadvertently spread oils and grease from your finger to the vinyl.
How To Store Vinyl Records: Flat Or Upright
You should always store your records upright. Not only does that make it much easier to take out the record you need (imagine needing to pull an album from the bottom of a stack), but it also protects records better.
If you stack albums on top of each other, they will warp over time. The weight from other albums will continuously pressure the lower albums and cause some warping.
Vinyl Record Storage: Final Thoughts
So there you have it: 8 tips to storing your vinyl records so they last a long time! Follow these steps and in 20 years’ time, your records will still sound just as golden as today. And that first pressing you have will be many times more valuable.
Let us know if these tips worked for you in the comment section below! Do you store your records in a different way? We want to hear all about it in the comments.
If you liked this article, impress your friends by sharing it with them, so that you can help them protect their precious vinyl collection as well. And then check out our article on organizing your vinyl records for the next step.
Your advice to store vinyl records in vinyl bags with a sealable fold on top to keep it airtight for more protection is a good idea. I also like that you recommend purchasing or creating shelves and grouping them by sizes so that it’s balanced. In order to do this, you’d probably want to figure out what size and how many records you have so that you can determine the dimension of the shelves that you need and still leave space for more in case you want to purchase any new ones.
Very interesting and useful. I have just had underfloor heating installed, how best to store my vinyl records to prevent warping. Any advice gratefully received
Some good tips. Might I add clean your vinyl record, even the brand new one before you play them. Also, if you can buy your supplies from a local mom and pop record store. You’ll keep your tax dollars in town. Those go to your public schools and help keep music programs going!
Great additional tips, thanks for sharing! Buying local is always good for the community, but many of us do not have a local record store. In my neighborhood, I used to run the local record store, but it just wasn’t profitable enough to continue. Perhaps if more people had bought locally….
If you want to go beyond what is outlined above, I put a micro chamber paper inside the record sleeve to help mitigate the acid in the paper. Then I store my records in a Mylite bag (much more archival than a poly bag), and then a rigid top loader. Makes the record about 14” square, which makes it difficult to find a storage container for – but now the vinyl is stored properly for a generation.
If you’re curious about storage and care for the paper aspects of your record collection – hit up comic book collectors. They are pretty knowledgeable (considering the monetary values associated with comic book collections)
My brother owns more than 400 record albums from the 1960’s and early 1970’s. He’s in a nursing home now and we want to keep them in the family. Obviously I’m not going to buy 400 plus plastic sleeves lol. But we have to figure out where to store them! He has huge plastic bins where most of them are kept at his soon to be his former home. I really don’t know where to put them yet. I have a small studio w no garage. Any ideas??
If they are in big tubs that have been in the basement or attic for decades, they may be in tough shape already.
If you wish to keep them in the family, who is it that REALLY wants them and will take care of them?
If nobody in the family wants the responsibility, I suggest you find a collector(s) you would be interested in taking proper care of them.
To keep them you should go through them, look for mold and mildew – then clean or discard those.
Get them into sleeves to reduce further wear and tear.
Get them into more manageable and properly sized containers.
Rent a temperature controlled storage unit and put them there.
If they are of such value (sentimental or fiscal) then why wouldn’t you buy 400+ sleeves?
All ‘ s clear .
I am cleaning out my parents home “estate”. My father had over 100 of the victorola records or albums and he kept them in a wooden box in the basement along an outside wall. Temperature usually between 60 to 65 degrees. The albums, records are in original covers. They seem fine, I really have not examined every one of them.
What a treasure. I hope you enjoy whatever they bring you.
Hi folks! I have a question 🙂
I’m going to buy a shelf to store my collection.
This shelf is gonna be against a wall. There are some morning light entering every morning for 30 minutes or so and will touch on the side the shelf. (the sun is not strong at all.. I’m living in Berlin… So moderate climate.)
Please let me Know if this sun exposure can damage my collection. What do you think?
Thanks in advance.
Alexandre.
Hi ,
I have records that have gone dull and greyish cloudy .
All have been in outter plastic sleeves.
Some are now dull and have lost there super gloss
Anybody know why ? Age ? Heat ? Pvc covers ?
Thank you
W Nala
This could be due to using pvc outer sleeves. I’ve read that they can react chemically with the vinyl and cause discolouration, especially noticeable on picture discs. I replaced all mine with polypropylene sleeves to be on the safe side. Hope this helps.
I have a very basic storage but probably unusual storage question. I have vinyl albums which were purchased (recently) purely to have them on vinyl. I listen on CDs. Is it a good or bad idea to leave the sealed plastic outer wrap on them? Does anyone know if this might cause problems at some point in the future?
Please. There’s no such word as “vinyl’s. Let’s just suffice to call them records.
50 degrees Fahrenheit? Seriously? Records don’t begin to warp until they hit a surface temperature of 130-140F. If this assessment were true, everyone’s record collections would be ruined, which they are not. Ridiculous.
50 degrees Celsius, obviously. It’s a mistake that has been corrected.
Hey, quick question!
I have my vinyls stored on a shelf leaning diagonally. The bottom of the sleeve is touching the shelf and the top of the cardboard is touching the wall. And since I have multiple they are also leaning on each other but they’re pretty up-right. Like a 80 degree angle. Is this okay?