This is whats in it: Chemical Composition/Ingredients Non-hazardous ingredient(s) 50.0-70.0 % Solvent naphtha, petroleum, medium aliphatic 7.0-13.0 % Aluminum oxide 5.0-10.0 % Mineral oil, white 5.0-10.0 % Dimethicone (a silicon-based organic polymer) 1.0-5.0 % I wouldnt use this on anything i wanted to keep!!
You need to make sure the sleeves (inner and outer) are archival grade, for "indefinite storage." I get all my supplies from Bags Unlimited. They have Library of Congress-grade stuff. https://www.bagsunlimited.com/topic/savemyrecords
Ive had this issue without PVC covers being involved at all or any type of specific inner sleeve. It seems to be possibly due to vinyl formulation. Ive noticed a lot of my records pressed by Rainbo and United sometimes have this kind of fogging or milky appearance. It seems to be mostly on just parts of the record rather than the entire thing. I cannot tell at this point if this is a progressive thing or not but, from what i can tell, it does seem to get worse gradually in some cases. This is a minority of pressings for sure and i dont get this on any other records...but it is irritating!
Duly noted. Almost all sleeves that aren't paper are Polyethylene so hopefully "poly sleeves" are understood to mean those and PVC understood to mean polyvinyl chloride. It can get a bit confusing.
Well if you are talking about rare or valuable sure. If you are talking about common records worth 1-5 dollars at most I'd say that would be overkill.
I think any record you want to listen to and keep in good shape is worth slapping a MoFi sleeve on, regardless of its value.
How much difference is there in a standard poly sleeve and a MoFi sleeve? I just question the necessity of it if the albums are kept in a climate controlled environment. I'm open to having mind changed though.
I doubt there's much difference, I just like them because of the paper structural insert. I'm anal like that.
Gottcha. I'm more a record collector than a audiophile type. I try to buy thrift store rehabs, record show seller's bargains and people's collections and keep average cost between .75 and $1.50. Then I clean them up and play grade them. G+ or less go in a discard box, the ones I want to keep in another box, and the one's I'll put out at an antique shop space I rent another. The latter two get new inner and outer sleeves and I end up (if there aren't too many discards) having about $2 or $2.50 in each. I price all of them in the antique shop at $4 each. I can't justify the extra cost of the more expensive archive grade sleeves. I don't make money off selling them at the shop, in fact haven't covered the cost of space rental yet, but hopefully will reach the point I can offset some of cost of my hobby.
I was recently in London and did some record shopping - 45's only so they would fit in my luggage. Quite a few of the used 45's I bought were in those stiff, textured PVC sleeves. They went in the garbage (PVC sleeves, not the records or their paper sleeves!).
Here's a brief video explaining the difference in the materials used for record sleeves (vinyl is NOT good for long-term storage, polyethylene & polypropylene are both very good, POLYESTER is the best, and the only material approved by the Library of Congress):
They mention something like POLYESTER (Mylar) but the true Mylar is the best of the best!, used for expensive comics and this is the company that sell it E. Gerber Products, LLC. - Item Listing they focus on comics but they do for 33 inch records but the size is 13x13 (too big for my taste) and are expensive, also buy on his store is a pain, we need send the credit card info by email! are a trusted company but... for comics is easy, third party sellers sell his stuff on ebay, this is the only third party seller that sell for 33 on ebay: Pack of 50 Mylites 2 Mil Mylar 33RPM LP Record Album Bags archival outer sleeves | eBay Anyone has tried the eGerber for records?
I've never heard of eGerber. I've been ordering from Bags Unlimited for many years, and they are a great company. Their catalogs are great, and the variety of products they sell is amazing. I don't think I'll ever need special gloves for handling ephemera, but if I ever do, I know where to get them. They sell a great cleaner for 78s and acetates which I found to be very effective.
I try all BagsUnlimited sleeves, I request samples of each, are nice but ClearBags Search Results are better (better sizes, fits perfect, good materials, more clear). eGerber is the major distribuidor of sleeves for comic collectors, they use real Mylar, is the best of the best, the owner told me that he try to sell for records but record collectors don't care much about (maybe due the price and no advertising) otherwise they are the top for comics collectors. I create the most solid packing for singles with eGerber comic sleeves, the problem is the size is not made for 7 inch singles. look: Imgur Now I use another way and materials (I show my results/method later).
The two Modern Harmonic records I own (Johnny Guitar Watson and Little Willie John) came in these sleeves and I really love how the record slides in and out with ease, no static cling, and the sleeves feel very soft and protective to the touch. But I'm not sure what they're made of and can't seem to find any audiophile reviews. Just some typically mixed amazon reviews but mostly positive. Tempted to order a pack.
I just stumbled upon this thread and am HORRIFIED. Most of my records are housed in thick plastic sleeves I bought online. They no longer make this particular brand but I was able to find a link online. Apparently "these sleeves use a hybrid 2.5 mil polypro/polyester film." They are pretty thick. I've also included the link. Are my records safe? Vinyl Records, SACDs, DVD Audio, Audiophile Equipment|Acoustic Sounds
I pulled out... my Neil Young "Living With War" LP for first time in several years. Record was all fogged up with freaky patterns. I found that the paper inner sleeve had a plastic baggie within it and that plastic was imprinting its chemical death ray upon my nice 200 gram Quiex vinyl. Happy ending, though - the crud must have been in its early stages and I was able to wipe it away with a gentle cloth. I've replaced the plastic baggie with plain paper Inner sleeve and hope I've put this episode behind me. So far the only other record in my collection that's been effected by the chemical rash was an Iron Maiden "Twilight Zone" 12 inch single. That one is permanently disfigured, sadly. Still plays good, though.
Good question. I have a few of those too; I guess I should check to see what's happening with the records. Does anyone know about this question on this type of sleeve?
Thanks for the reply! Makes me feel a lot better. I can't imagine the awful feeling of discovering that your collection has been damaged.
The pinkish inner sleeves should probably be disposed of. Hopefully I've replaced most of mine. I don't know if I have too many outer ones that are really thick (got rid of most of them) but there were many reissues that I remember contained the pink inners. After reading this thread a few years back I did replace those.
Dude....this is an absolute TRAGEDY. I literally just purchased those Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves made out of some type of plastic. Hope it wasn't a mistake. I'll be sure to keep my Maiden records away to be safe.
Just a standard poly inner sleeve is fine, it is the thick PVC sleeves that are the problem. They are the ones they use to put on records at the public library if that helps you ID what we are talking about. I would caution against using paper sleeves. They often leave tiny specks of paper on your records that can catch on your stylus and/or eventually work their way down into the grooves. Some also believe that pulling records out and putting them back in those paper sleeves result in tiny light scratches on your records.
So just discovered sone f’n bag rash on an Ozzy record that had the pinkish sleeves. Thankfully only a fairly minor case and no sonic defects but wondering if the rash will continue or am I set after tossing the pink inners and replacing with MoFi sleeves?