With the resurgence of interest in vinyl records, many people are playing a record for the first time. Unlike streaming music,  physical vinyl needs care to guarantee that it will be playable for many revolutions. Many folks will consider this knowledge too fundamental for them. That’s great! If you have any tips to add, please feel free to do so at the end of the article. Here are some of the most basic tips:

1) Place records vertically on the shelf or storage box;  store the same size records together – i.e., do not intersperse 7″ records between 12″ records etc. If you’re just starting out – our “Stack That Wax” record crate holds about eighty records and is stack-able three high and can be positioned either horizontally or vertically.

Record Crate

retro crates are made from 1/2″ thick rough pine, spruce or fir. Stackable up to three high. Stack with open side of the crate horizontally, vertically or any combination

2) When you remove a record from the jacket or sleeve be sure to keep your fingers off the record grooves.

3) Always clean a record before playing it – even it’s brand new. Caution: If you deep cleaned a record-  air dry before listening to it or storing it. Our Groovy® Record Cleaning Kit is an excellent all-around choice for in between listens. It comes with a brush, cleaner and a soft cloth that can be used wet or dry.

Groovy Record Cleaning Kit – for Vinyl Records

Comes with micro bristled cleaning brush; cotton cleaning cloth, one 2 oz bottle of GROOVY Cleaning Fluid. “GROOVY” Cleaner is Bags Unlimited’s own Record Cleaning Fluid, specially formulated for its deep-cleaning, antistatic, residue-free properties. Kit cleans 25-30 vinyl records. Kit comes with cotton storage bag. For replacement fluid, order AGC4, AGC8 or AGC32.

4) Be sure your stylus is clean. Our stylus cleaning kit has a specially formulated nylon bristled brush that gently and thoroughly cleans the stylus. It comes with cleaning fluid and a  cotton drawstring bag for storage

5) Always put your records back in the sleeve or jacket when done listening to them. Replace it on the shelf or storage box. Preventive care keeps accidents from happening such as spills or falls as well as potential misfiling.

We have a short informative video below that demonstrates how we clean our records.

 

4 COMMENTS

  1. I have both. I like both for different reasons.
    LP’s have the warmer sound, the album art, lyrics and photos on the inner sleeve. Have to be stationery to listen. Have to put up the occasional snap, crackle & pop.
    CD’s are mobile, sound more compressed, no pops & crackles, you lose the album art effect and most of the time, the lyrics.

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