Practical Tips For Storing Your Vinyl Record Collection

Rob Marchese

Whether you’ve been collecting vinyl records for awhile, or you just started recently, how you store and take care of your physical media is extremely important. Although we live in a world where digital music services, like Spotify and Google Music, are widespread, many people still prefer listening to records. Since the audio in digital recordings needs to be compressed, the sound quality is compromised. With vinyl, none of the format is lost so the record sounds just how the musicians and/or producers intended it to. It’s considered a purer way to listen to music.

Records also bring an interactive aspect to music. With a music app your music listening can be very passive, but with vinyl you have to interact with it (Time to turn to Side B!). Plus, shopping for records is a fun activity and listening to them delves into people’s nostalgia reserves. Whether you enjoy listening to the best classic rock albums of all time, timeless hip hop jams, oldies, or everything in between, if you’re a record collector, be sure to participate in Record Store Day on April 21st!

Now that you know the reasons why records are still super popular, here’s how to store them correctly!

Keep The Sleeves
Do not lose or throw out the outer sleeves that come with your records. Those sleeves provide extra protection from scratches, dust and dirt. Do you have records that are missing sleeves? Purchase a pack of record sleeves so that you’re covered!

Watch Where You Touch
When you’re handling your records, keep any touching to the edges and label area. It’s also a good idea to wash your hands and completely dry them before handling your record collection so that the oil from your hands doesn’t’t get transferred to the record attracting even more dust.

Stay Vertical
Do not stack your records on top of one another. When you you store your records store them vertically, like in the image below. When you pile up your records on top of one another they begin to warp over time. Also, when storing your records, do not pack them in too tightly together. Give them a little bit of space and breathing room.

Photo by H. Michael Karshis via Flickr.com with no changes made.

Humidity & Heat Kills
Humidity isn’t just a killer when it comes to having a good hair day, humidity can also ruin your records. When liquid gets begins to collect it can lead to mold and mildew growth on your records and their coverings. When you store your records be sure to do so in a cool, dry place. Never ever store them in your basement!

Direct sunlight and extreme heat can also be dangerous to records since warping can occur due to heat and pressure. Once a record has been warped it can be difficult to correct, so prevention is the best route to go when it comes to keeping your records playable and in good condition.

One way to make sure that humidity, heat and pressure don’t get to your records is to store them somewhere that is climate controlled – like at a storage facility! While many self-storage facilities aren’t great for storing records because of their vulnerability to the elements outside, a full service storage facility like Zippboxx is the perfect place to store your packed vinyl collection.

Not only will your records be kept at a warehouse that is secured and climate controlled, but with valet storage you don’t even have to worry about driving to the facility to drop your records off – Zippboxx comes to you! Then, when you want your records back, all you have to do is schedule a delivery through your connected device and they will be delivered back to you.

Feature photo by Gavin St. Ours via Flickr.com with no changes made.

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