Storing vinyl the proper way

I still hold Optimal in very high regard. Above GZ for sure. But the latest release I have is from mid 2017 so maybe thats before their current hickup?

 

Just for fun since I wrote this earlier today Ill just post my current ranking of pressing plants.

Top:
1. 70s Japanese JVC plant / some Mofi
2. QRP a.k.a Analog Productions
3. Pallas

Above Average:
1. Optimal (Almost at Top for me)
2. Record Industry
3. RTI

Average:
1. MPO
2. GZ
3. Memphis Record Pressings ( Only have 1 record )

Below Average / Bad:
1. Rainbo (although getting better I hear)
2. United

Not sure where Third Man Records would fit in as I dont have any and havnt heard much about them yet.
I also dont have any United records but just from what Ive seen and heard from those makes never want to try one either.

 

But is your mission to clean the floor (the record surface) or clean the seams of the floor (the grooves)? A clean record surface looks nice - and prevents some additional gunk from getting into the grooves - but it’s largely an aesthetic accomplishment. The objective is to clean the grooves where the stylus contacts the record and where the music (and noise) reside.

Just sweeping a record surface - particularly with those god awful carbon fiber brushes - under the guise of “cleaning” the record doesn’t really accomplish much in terms of cleaning the grooves to improve playback, reduce noise and improve stylus life.

 

Not to mention adding static despite the "anti static" claim of the brushes. It largely comes down to how you use the brushes I find however.

 

I didn't come up with the floor cleaning analogy. Moreover, I didn't assume it's a valid analogy. I'm just following its logical consequences.

 

Don’t get me started on carbon fiber brushes....or I’ll completely derail this thread.

 

I got a copy of A/B by Kaleo in March 2017 (half black, half white vinyl) and a copy of The Man-Machine by Kraftwerk in August 2017. Both were pressed by Optimal, both have printed inner sleeves and both have ugly patterns of light scratches on side 2; the former was dusty straight out of the shrinkwrap, maybe because of less careful handling of coloured vinyl considering that every other Optimal pressing I've owned was clean when new.

Have yet to post pictures of these issues and send them to Optimal, but there you have it.

 

Very unfortunate. The worst culprit Ive ever had was a sealed Beirut Flying Club Cup record which had a large scratch across all of side B, dust and fingersprints on several places.

This is after RCM cleaning. And it still has a very strange light blue ish coating on just the deadwax. Anyone any ideas about what it is? You can also see the big scratch there.

 

Carbon fiber brushes are made for removing dust and nothing else- it's not somekind of a miracle thing that's going to clean the grooves from dirt. I've a carbon optic record brush that gets the job done when removing dust from the records, I bought it way back at the end of the 80's and it's still the best record brush I've ever used.

 

I never store my jackets with the actual vinyl. The jackets (and any premiums and original dust sleeves) are bagged and then put separately in a specific graphite record tote I buy. Each record tote holds 30 albums. The vinyl are then put into a Mofi anti static sleeves, then slipped into a cardboard dust sleeve with a hole, so the label can be seen. They are then stored in their own record tote. Is my way overkill, probably. But it is neat as can be, everything is universal and symmetrical, protected to the nines and I love it.

 

Whatever makes us sleep without worry at night ;^)

I mean, If I had all the means I might do it myself. Although I like to take the cover with the vinyl, that would be a little more cumbersome for this setup.

 

I'm still happy with the way I've chosen to store my vinyl (outer sleeve: polyethylene [opening on top] / inner sleeve: poly paper [stored behind the jacket with opening sideways].
However, there are two things that could be better IMO:

1. The polyethylene sleeve are milky/cloudy
2. The vinyl itself has still some wiggle room as the poly outer sleeves are quite big and the inner sleeve has its opening sideways. This makes me worry if the edges of the record could possibly get damaged somehow.

Therefore, I'm still trying to make some adjustments to 'solve the problems'. Today I received new sleeves, polypropylene (so crystal clear). One package with an open side and one package with a resealable flap (glue is NOT on the flap itself). So, maybe it's the old question again, but could a resealable sleeve damage the record? (I've read things about mold, and that the records needs to breath? Is this all true) And what side should the flap be. I prefer the top side, but it seems that the sleeves are quite tight on the record sleeve if I put the opening of the outer sleeve on the top.

Thanks again!

 

I do as you and have thought about the same issue, but they dont bother me nearly enough to care, my records are probably stored better than 99% of how people used to do it and still is quite meticulous.

I dont know about records needing to breathe in storage environments. Ive just heard it as a snakeoil term that your records should rest and breathe before being played, like its living, I mean come on.
A sealed environment if anything should be superior, especially if its vacuum sealed with no air inside. Of course thats not really possible now, but that would prevent any mold growth. And why would you worry about mold, havnt you cleaned your records?

One thing to be aware of is humidity. If your room is very moist, over 60%, then that can cause a lot of water damage and mold to appear and grow easily. But, too little moisture and you will start to hear crackles and pops via static discharges. 40% is a happy balance Ive found. 30% being the minimum to prevent static from appearing in large amounts.
Here in Sweden it can get as low as 15% or lower during winters, thats when my room humidifier comes in real handy.
Not sure about top or sode opening, thats just a conveniance question for one self.

 

Thanks!

Yea, don't think mold would be an issue, but as I read some things about it on the internet it's better to ask first I guess. Btw, I don't clean my records yet; gonna buy a RCM later on.
Environment here should be quite humid, but inside it's not for some reason (a lot of static electricity when playing records).

 

You could invest in a little moisture measure device. Cost around 10$ and its really interesting to see how it changes from day to day, depending on if its rained outside and so on. If it consistantly shows a number below 30% it might be worth investing in a humidifier as well as the RCM. Because once you get the RCM you will be real disappointed if it starts adding static. Speaking from experience here, I still havnt recovered from the frustration of cleaning a new record and have it come out noisier than ever before, I get paranoid and have to check before and after every time.

Since youre in no hurry though I suggest looking online for vintage RCMs. You might strike a deal.