5 Tips To Keep Your Vinyl In Great Condition

When learning about everything on vinyls, there’s one very important area you need to cover – how to keep your vinyl collection in great condition.

The way you store your vinyl will have an impact on their life, as vinyl that is poorly kept will lose value and not perform properly. So, if you want to ensure your vinyl collection has a long life ahead of it, follow the 5 tips below!

Keep Your Vinyl Out Of Direct Sunlight

This is one of the first rules a lot of vinyl collectors learn because sunlight can be seriously damaging not just to your vinyl but to the vinyl player itself too.

This is because direct sunlight can heat up your vinyl and vinyl player, and the heat can warp the records. This may not happen immediately, but if you store your records in the path of direct sunlight each and every day, they will definitely warm over time. As the sunlight moves over your records, so will the heat of the sunlight. This can lead to warping all over your records and not just in one specific area of the disc.

To avoid this, store your vinyl records out of direct sunlight. Use appropriate shelving or racks to help keep them cool and dry at room temperature.

Store Your Vinyl Upright

It’s not just where you store your vinyl that can impact their life; how you store them can be impactful too!

Storing your vinyl lying down horizontally can increase the chances of the warping over time. This is because when vinyl records are stacked on top of each other, the weight can warp and distort the records at the bottom of the pile.

So, it’s important to give your vinyl records room to breathe. Standing them upright is a great way to achieve this, but make sure you don’t squash too many records together or that they lean to one side. The weight and pressure from this can also cause warping. Stand them upright with appropriate shelving to help keep your records apart.

Plus, this method allows you to have easy access to your records – so it’s a win-win!

Avoid Inner Paper Sleeves

A lot of vinyl records these days are sold in paper sleeves. These are fine for short-term use, but over longer periods of time, the coarse texture of the paper can scratch your record’s surface and damage it. This can negatively affect how the record sounds when you go to play it – so to improve its life and sound quality, you should replace these paper sleeves as soon as possible.

Plastic inner sleeves are pretty affordable and are much safer to use than paper inner sleeves. So, they’re a good alternative to paper inner sleeves.

Consider Using Outer Sleeves

Outer sleeves are a love-em or hate-em kind of sleeve used to protect vinyl records. They protect the overall record and its sleeve, making them great for long-term storage. They can protect the records overall from things like rust, heat, and moisture – but some collectors prefer not to use them.

This is because they want to display their records, and the records simply look better when displayed in their original sleeves. Aesthetically, outer sleeves are not much to look at, and they can hide what records you actually own – making them a poor option for display use. However, there’s no denying that they can protect your vinyl records and keep them in great condition for longer!

A good compromise is vinyl bags. These are thinner, lighter versions of double sleeves that are much better for display use, and they provide some protection to your vinyl records. This kind of protection is better than nothing.

Use Appropriate Cleaning Brushes

It can be tempting to dust your vinyl records with whatever kind of soft fabric or brush you have at hand – but even soft fibers can scratch the surface of a vinyl record!

So, it’s best to use appropriate cleaning equipment (including brushes, cloths, and cleaning solution) to avoid damaging your vinyl while trying to spruce them up. You can easily find cleaning brushes that are specifically designed to clean vinyl records. They fit with the record’s line pattern and clean the record as you spin it – it’s easy!

Final Thoughts

And that’s it!

These are 5 easy tips for you to follow to help expand the life of your precious vinyl records. Follow them closely and enjoy your vinyl for way longer!