
Any dust, dirt, mildew, or insects inside of this cardboard and paper packaging can harm your vinyl. Older records may need a deep cleaning to remove dirt, chemicals (which seep out of paper inserts), or other nastiness.Ī record’s sleeve and jacket (the inner and outer packaging) also need to be kept clean. If you have a bunch of records that never get used, clean them with the anti-static brush to ensure safe storage. Ideally, you should clean a record with an anti-static brush before and after each use. This dust can work itself into the grooves of a record or scratch its surface, reducing vinyl fidelity or playability. Records tend to accumulate static, which attracts dust. Proper vinyl storage starts with cleanliness. Clean Your Records, Use Sleeves and Inserts Invest In Vinyl But in the most unfavorable conditions, heat or pressure can destroy a record very quickly, even within a few hours. Again, this is something that often takes years or decades.

Tons of vintage records are still playable, but they’re often damaged in some way.Īnd poor storage will eventually make a record unplayable. This process usually occurs over several months, years, or decades due to poor storage.

Billions of vinyl records still survive from the 20th century, and I can guarantee that most of those records have endured mistreatment.īut here’s the thing exposure to heat, humidity, dust, mildew, insects, or pressure will reduce an LP’s fidelity and damage the cover art. To be clear, I’m not telling you to baby your records.
