France
United StatesHaving a vinyl collection is good. But having a vinyl collection with sleeves in excellent condition, and records with a very good listening quality, it's even better! By the way, if you want to know the condition of your records, you can consult our guide on the Goldmine standard, which is the international standard to grade the condition of a record and its cover. You'll need it if you plan to buy or resell used vinyl records. Taking care of your vinyl collection is essential to guarantee its value! SwapRecords gives you some simple tips to protect and store your records.
Protect your vinyl records with protective sleeves
The first simple gesture to adopt quickly when you start a vinyl collection is to buy protective sleeves. There are two types of covers that are complementary: on the one hand, the polyprophylene outer sleeves that protect your records from dust and humidity, but also from rubbing, especially when you store your vinyl records in shelves, stuck against other vinyl records. This avoids chips on the corners of the covers. On the other hand, the antistatic inner sleeves, generally made of paper, in which your records are placed. However, the use of protective sleeves does not replace the regular cleaning of your vinyl records to make them last in time!
The polyprophylene outer sleeves
In order to protect your records from the outside environment, you can buy transparent polyprophylene sleeves. You've probably seen them at your local record store! This is a staple for any vinyl collector or lover. No more dust, humidity or stains on your covers. And in terms of budget, it's really very affordable. Except of course if you have thousands of vinyl records at home. Be careful to select the right size, between 33 and 45 RPM. Several references are available:
- Outer sleeves Big Fudge - £14 the 50 sleeves
- Outer sleeves Vinyl LP - £7 the 50 sleeves
The antistatic inner sleeves
Then to protect your vinyl record inside, you can buy antistatic sleeves. These are much thinner to fit inside your thicker covers. Usually made of paper, these pouches are necessary because of their antistatic effect. Sometimes, the original covers of your vinyl records are too old and do not do their job anymore. It is thus advisable to get new ones to protect your records as well as possible. And even more for rare and old copies! Our recommendations:
- Inner sleeves Tonar Nostatic - £14 the 50 sleeves
- Inner sleeves on Etsy - £17 the 25 sleeves
Store your vinyl collection in a vinyl cabinet and storage racks
Once you've properly packed your precious vinyl records, you can think about storing them, and even further: showcasing them! And yes, listening to music is one thing, but the spatial arrangement of your records is another. We suggest you some ideas of storage, vinyl furniture but also storage racks to display your favorite albums and facilitate listening. Especially if you have hundreds of vinyl records.
Vinyl cabinets
If the cleaning of your records and their protection in quality sleeves is very important, you should not neglect the storage of the vinyl records, which also contributes to their longevity. Indeed, vinyl cabinets are designed to position albums vertically with a precise goal: avoiding that the weight of several vinyls superimposed on a table, for example, can make the vinyl records undulate and thus deform over time. Laying them against each other - and not forcing them together - also helps to protect them! In addition, vinyl furniture protects your covers from sunlight, which can discolor them. It is best to place your furniture in a place that is a little far from direct sunlight. We suggest several inexpensive references, but you can find everything up to handcrafted vinyl furniture in solid oak, which are therefore in a different price range! You may discover other vinyl cabinets in our article on the best furniture and accessories for storing vinyl records.
Storage racks
Finally, the last tip from our editorial team is the storage rack for 10 to 50 vinyl records at most: simple but effective. This allows you to have an auxiliary storage rack, either to have a burst of records near a sound system, or to highlight a part of your collection, like a mini-discotheque on another piece of furniture! Various models and designs exist. A good alternative to prepare a listening session or to sort out some records to put aside.
Once you have all your equipment, you can buy or resell records on SwapRecords! You will find LPs, 45 RPMs, 78 RPMs, but also CDs and audio tapes. Albums, boxsets as well as bundles of records, new and used. Register if you haven't already and find vinyl records near you!