Can MOFI sleeves damage the record?

Good thing I decided to stay away from them! Was surprised to see my Three Blind Mice reissues from Impex to come in those as well.
Poly lined paper is what I mostly use as well, sadly in some cases it makes for a very tight fit so I also use the Spincare's version of the Mofi sleeves:
AUDIOPHILE 12 Inch Inner Vinyl Record Sleeves (Pack of 50) - For 12" LPs

Never had any problems with surface scratches and I actually prefer them to the Mofi and QRP ones. The paper backing in those is slightly thicker so the corners don't bend around as easily.
Makes it easier to get the record in and out of the outer sleeve. Also here in the UK they're around half the price of the Mofi's. The lack of any printing on the front of the sleeve is a good thing for me.
As you showed with the Diskeeper 7" sleeves that ink stamp can migrate to the vinyl surface. And overall it looks better to me when you can see the full vinyl surface without any branding.

I'll keep an eye out for any surface scratches (due to those sleeves) in future. The thing is if the record comes in a nice poly-lined inner sleeve I will usually leave it as is.
The most common usage for those Spincare sleeves is records that came in paper inners and have very tight fitting (usually gatefolds) outer sleeves.
My two Tone Poets that came in the RTI hazy inner sleeves are currently in Spincare's "Audiophile" inner sleeves so I will have to keep an eye and see if they develop any hairline scratches like other people have experienced from Mofi sleeves.

 

Nice alternative, they would seem a lot better then if cheaper and sturdier. Which is exactly why I prefer poly lined paper. Get mine at local store for less than half the price of a MFSL sleeve, its really a no brainer for me.

There is one time I use MFSL sleeves though, if for example the release comes with some nice lyric sleeve or a box that is packed too tight I might line those with a MFSL sleeve myself.

 

For printed inners with lyrics etc I only use the Nagaoka pocket style inners. For me they are the best inner sleeves out of all and its a shame they don't use the same material to manufacture Mofi style ones. Its incredibly smooth, very strong and in my experience actually effective at keeping static at bay. A lot of my old and recent Japanese pressings come with a similar style inner but the material is never as good. They're perfect for putting inside printed inners as all other alternatives I've tried are slightly too wide and will crumple eventually. I've tried to use cheaper alternatives but when it comes to those nothing beats the real deal. I also use them on their own sometimes and that works okay but because there's no paper backing the corners can bend easily if you're not very careful with them.

Regarding the paper poly lined ones they're basically all good and I mostly use whichever ones I get from ebay. There is one brand that is slightly different though and they have very good quality to price ratio. Audio Anatomy Deluxe inner sleeves are quite special. Made in Germany, full square as opposed to having cut out corners so less holes for dust to get through. The paper on them is slightly thinner than the cheaper ones but just as strong so they're better for tightly fitting sleeves that won't take two LPs next to each other without bulging out too much. They just feel more premium overall so I mostly only use them on records I really like haha

 

It occurs to me the printing may occur before the sleeve is in its final form. Probably large sheets of plastic printed with the logos for a dozen or more sleeves are printed, which are then slit, folded sealed...whatever to get to the final product. Printing on plastic is not easy. Perhaps it is printed on two sides unintentionally. A little too much ink was used and the ink from the front of one sheet of film, offset onto the back of the sheet above it in the pile as it comes off the press. Or if a stack of freshly printed sleeves was pressed down with a clamp in order to cut them.Offsetting is possible if the weren't quite dry when they were cut. So this ink resulting from offsetting is present on the back side of the sleeve and is what is causing the problem. I worked for 5 years as a pressman and printing on high gloss surfaces is a lot more difficult. Offsetting is a constant worry throughout the process.

 

In my experience, it's the paper side of the MoFi sleeves that cause scratches because it's heavier/thicker due to the paper insert. Your 5-step process is basically what I do, except for letting gravity drop the paper side at the back of the sleeve, and pushing the paper side farther away with my knuckles as I reach into the sleeve to put my fingers on the label facing the floor/paper side of sleeve.

Also, Step 6 - I store the MoFi sleeve in my outer sleeves behind the album cover, so that the front side of the MoFi sleeve is visible opposite the album cover (i.e. paper side facing back cover of album jacket). This prevents the need to crease/bend the MoFi sleeve from jacket insertion, and reduces the risk of hairlines from unnecessary jacket insertion. It's also just way quicker and more convenient to extract/replace your disks if all of your albums have outer sleeves like mine do.

 

Both can cause it. Problem is you cant separate the thin side without your hand.

 

Makes sense. Thankfully, the hairlines caused by those sleeves never seem to create audible damage, but it certainly affects visual grading, so I try to be careful. Shame though, because those MoFis are priced at such a premium compared to plastic lined paper, and the latter seem to be a safer bet (although they don't look near as nice).

 

I go plastic lined paper all the way.

 

I've used these for years with no ill-effect:

 

Not Mofi but related topic:

Glad that somebody make a video of what I'm talking about for many time ago.

AVOID PVC SLEEVES!!!

 

Good God, that YouTube thumbnail is utterly tacky and ridiculous.

 

I agree, actually I don't like that channel for some reasons. But the content of the video is good because he show real examples, some still don't believe that, sadly I had that issue two times with some singles that I bought overseas, even the records was never store in PVC (or maybe yes, those don't arrives in PVC) I got that damage due heating during transit.

 

Yeah, unfortunately you'll see that exact type of thumbnail all over YouTube on countless channels, though this is particularly cheesy example. It appears YouTubers have figured out that videos get more clicks if you put an over-dramatic caption in big bold letters alongside a picture of the person in the video with an exaggerated facial expression. It's really tiresome, but apparently it fits the algorithm or there's just something about this gimmick that makes people more likely to click.

 

And don’t forget: also an arrow pointing at something outrageous circled on screen!

 

If anything, the utterly stupid facial expressions, arrows, gaudy pictures and colours, and hyperbolic language has an opposite effect on me to the point that I actively avoid their channel going forward.

 

If the record is filthy yes

 

Mofi inner sleeves and their like can allow a record to get damaged. These types of sleeves, especially in a dry climate, can create static electricity as the record is slid out and slid back in. This can cause dust and dirt to cling to the record. Unless the record is absolutely clean a record could get scratched.
I discussed this with Mofi and they agreed this could happen.

 

It’s not dust and dirt…it’s the plastic formulation. Get a record you don’t care about and rub the plastic against it and then look under a decent light….

If you can do this on a record with a larger deadwax and do it in this area, it will be more visible.

 

I posted this in the appropriate thread on PVC sleeves. BTW the issues appear to be heat related. I did remove most of mine but some had been on records for 40 years and there is no damage. They were just starting to wrinkle and change colour. Store away from heat and you might be OK as I was but it's not worth the risk judging from this video. I prefer the polythene covers in any case. It's possible if records are in poly lined sleeves the leaching won't get through as it appears laminated sleeve fronts saved one side of some of those LPs. However I think there might be an issue with the old poly lined sleeves as they stick to the record after a long time. Any I get now I place a Nagaoka style sleeve inside just to be safe after cleaning.

 

If you rub any sleeve against a record it will scratch. I always open out the sleeve before removing the record. Mostly the static is on the disc rather than the sleeve. Those MFSL sleeves are supposed to be anti static. I've inspected many MFSL discs since this thread started and can't se any scratching even on the dead wax.

 

Yes I was just trying to illustrate what happens if you purposely rub it…you would just get a more pronounced effect but it will show you the effect the sleeve has. Imo, under normal usage you should have to open the sleeve…it’s says anti-scratching.

I’ve seen QRP sleeves (which do the same thing but worse) create these hairlines after just 2-3 careful removals from the sleeves. My Doors reissues were covered in hairlines when I first got them. I replaced them and then immediately resleeved them (along with many other MFSL/AP records I have) and no longer see the issue occurring. So I’m blaming these sleeves…

It’s a process of elimination

 

You say the Doors AP have scratches from the go? Just picked at random Doors Strange Days. No sign of scratching whatsoever and the sleeves don't cling to the vinyl. Maybe QRP are using a slightly different sleeve but I've not noticed anything different with more recent AP purchases. Sometimes QRP vinyl has marks created in manufacture.

 

What did you replace the QRP sleeves with?

 

No not from the go….they look pretty good on first removal but after about 3 or 4 plays and minimal contact against the sleeve, you can start to see hairlines under sufficient lighting. This progressively gets worse on subsequent plays so the more it comes in and out the sleeve, these marks accumulate. No they arent significant scratches or anything but they are abrasion marks that affect visual grading of a record. Anyway, that’s my experience and I can only put the marks down to these sleeves as eliminating the sleeves has eliminated the issue.