I have a nice little collection of vinyl but I've always though how the hell do I take care of these beautiful things?

Anyway, I was hoping this thread can gather everyone's hints and tips and secrets to make a person's collection last longer and all that.

I know nothing about taking care about vinyl and am finally starting to try my best but wanted tips on how to. This is how I store my vinyl: on a stool with each vinyl stacked on each other. But then I started wonder if that would warp them. Only thing stopping me from organising them is space but I think I may have a fix. Gotta think about that though.

I also never clean then nor do I know how to. When I put the vinyl on my turntable and see a spec of dust all I do is take my finger and wipe it off and I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing instinctly everytime I do it. Feels wrong. I also don't have a special cloth to wipe them. I tried kleenex one time but that made more of a mess haha.

How do you fix a song or part of vinyl that skips? I don't see any damage on my Controversy album but it always skips a few times on "Do Me, Baby"...though the outcome works out in some weird way lol.

Can you put water on the vinyl or does it just have to be a special cloth?? Next thing that worries me and makes me not want to play my vinyl is people saying each time you play the thing....it degrades and gets destroyed. That scares me but I love listenting to my remastered 180g 1999 album .

Anyway, just give some good tips and shit and maby I and other orgers, etc. will have a better understanding on vinyl care.

Oh, I would look elsewhere but the information I would get here would be more personal and from people who actually cares to explain things if people are confused. The end, promise and thanks fellow orgers!

Always store vinyl vertically, not layered like pancakes. That's Vinyl 101.

For me, I do the following as well:

I have a polyethylene (I'll call i...s) sleeve for every album.

The jacket (cover), sleeve (paper insert) and the record itself are all stored in the plastic sleeve separately.

Ex: In one plastic sleeve, there is the Purple Rain jacket (cover), the sleeve (with the lyrics & face on it), and the vinyl itself.

For double albums, I'll put each record on either side of the sleeve, never rubbing against each other.
Note: IF the inside sleeve is that plastic crinkly cover instead of paper, I'll keep the vinyl inside that but still not in the jacket. If it's an older album that was used and may already have scratches on it, I'll often leave it in the paper sleeve, but still removed from the jacket cover (all still stored in the polyethylene sleeve).

Never leave the original shrinkwrap on a record. It can continue to constrict over time and warp the jacket and possibly the vinyl. Get it out of that shrinkwrap and into a polyethylene sleeve.

I do this mostly because I don't want to fuck up the sleeve trying to put the vinyl back into the jacket and sleeve, I don't want to scatch the record on the paper sleeve, and I don't want white rings to eventually develop on the cover itself. It takes extra care and handling, but for me it's worth it. It also allows me to remove any of the three items without generally disturbing the others. If I just wanna pull records out, I don't have to remove the jacket and touch it, or mess with the sleeve. I can just get the vinyl itself. Same if I just want to look at the cover for some reason, I don't have to take anything else out.

You can find those plastic sleeves at most any mom & pop record store. I pay around $8-10 for 100 of them at a time.

You can find recipes online for vinyl cleaning fluid, which is usually (I think) denatured alcohol and water or something. I usually buy Magic Fluid at my record store for $5. They make it themselves and it works great. Get a micro-fibre cloth recommended for vinyl (some soft cloths can be abrasive to vinyl the same way a nose tissue can scratch your reading glasses) and use it to clean the vinyl. If you wash that cloth, never ever use a fabric softener or a dryer sheet in that load. It coats the cloth and renders is useless for cleaning vinyl properly. It can leave a film on your vinyl. Most times, but not always, the cloths you buy to clean your computer monitor or TV screen are also safe for vinyl. But search online for proper cloths. They're not expensive, just gotta have the right one.

Touch the vinyl as little as possible. Hold it around the edges with your fingertips, never touching the grooves of the record itself if possible. Like holding a coin between your fingers, or a piece of glass you just cleaned.

As far as the skipping, you may have to adjust the weight level on the tonearm of your record player. It may have too much weight on the back end and not enough pushing forward to sit properly on the record. Meaning it could be hydroplaning (for a generic term) or drifting over the grooves, causing skips and less than great sound quality. In the old days, we just tape a nickle or a penny to the top of the stylus to weigh it down just right. haha

And never, EVER buy those shittastic Crosley record players in stores. The needles on them are absolute garbage. Many record stores across the US won't guarantee a record if you use a Crosley on it. You may be able to swap out a better needle or stylus on it, but you're guaranteed a better experience using a real turntable, or even an older stereo system that works. Get a direct drive if possible, because belt drives can wear over time and your record won't play at the right speed, or sound right.

Others will have various examples, and they all work as well. This is just how I handle my stuff.

store vertical.

play your records on decent equipment.

clean all old/used vinyl before you play it. i have a 'spin clean' system. it's awesome. i highly recommend it if you buy/have old vinyl.

replace insert sleeves on all old vinyl with new sleeves.

invest in a stylus cleaning brush and clean your stylus after every few sides or as needed.

don't touch the grooves.

peedub said:

store vertical.

play your records on decent equipment.

clean all old/used vinyl before you play it. i have a 'spin clean' system. it's awesome. i highly recommend it if you buy/have old vinyl.

replace insert sleeves on all old vinyl with new sleeves.

invest in a stylus cleaning brush and clean your stylus after every few sides or as needed.

don't touch the grooves.

Wow, this is cool, thanks for mentioning it.

Yeah don't stack them, the weight will break them. Keep them in a cool place out of the sun, like a closet. You can buy sleeves on eBay, I even got my LPs in plastic