storage poll

im thinking of moving from #3 to #2

pros: more space in the shelves; get to see the back cover; maybe fewer blown out jacket-tops?
cons: takes longer to get record out (im not gonna do it "DJ style" with everything lined up so the record can fall out); more paper scuffs?

Do people put the inner sleeve opening facing in or out of the jacket? Like, almost everyone I know leaves the inner sleeve opening adjacent to the jacket opening so the record can slide right out. NOT ME! (nor any of my other SERIOUS collector friends) I don't want dust getting in there!

I do #2

I don't have plastic sleeves for all of my records, though

people who allow the potential of record-falling-out are the most disgusting savages.

I do #2 but a lot of my older & more collectible stuff is #3 these days to avoid ringwear.

If a record is really bear up I will not put it in an outer sleeve, so I am more easily reminded that I need an upgrade.

people who allow the potential of record-falling-out are the most disgusting savages.
agreed

oops bear = beat

my first copy of "The World Of Harry Partch" fell out on the gravel as I was taking it home to play it because some record store dolt had it aligned like that. The side with "Barstow" was destroyed, to my horror. It took me 15 years to find another one.

i know i shouldve included options for orientation in this poll, but oh well...

right now, i do #3 with the opening of inner sleeve and opening of plastic sleeve aligned to UP. dust isnt a worry, cause it's inside my expedit.

Yeah I keep all of my records in plastic sleeves with the opening facing up and with the inner jacket facing up so the record won't slip out. I guess that's #2?

inner sleeve inside the jacket or outside?

inside jacket, why would you keep the inner sleeve outside the the record? easier to take out?

Like in some records shops?

cuts down on ringwear (especially for shipping) and easier to get out of the jacket

#1: i don't use plastic sleeves, except for shipping. when shipping, it's #3.

what about record jackets that are in shitty shape?

I do #2 but perhaps one day I will ascend to #3.

you guys even put cheapo stuff in plastic sleeves? I do it because I like my cataloging systems to be as all-encompassing and without exception as possible (otherwise there will be chaos!)... but sometimes I do feel pretty dumb when I spot my beat-up copy of the beverly hills cop soundtrack sitting on the shelves in a nice bag.

I guess I don't have all of my 7"s, 10"s, etc. in sleeves tho

yes, the covers that are split are in plastic bags. also there are some fragile (white uncoated paper, vellum, weird folds that snag on their neighbors) things i keep in plastic, and i do keep my japanese pressings in plastic if they have an obi. ~30 records in plastic sleeves i'd say.

the thing is, i actually like the wear-signs on my records (within reason, of course!)--i like seeing that i've had, and enjoyed, an album for 25-30 years, for example!

i get that!

#1, though I have a few with plastic sleeves. Hate hate hate it when people align the inner sleeve opening with the jacket opening.

i do #2. inner sleeve pointing out so record can fall out, but outer plastic facing up, so record doesn't fall out and so when you squeeze into shelves, plastic doesn't squish out

oh, and japanese outer plastic things are the absolute worst. the ones with the sticky and flap over. if sticky is on the flap i cut that whole thing off.

think im gonna adapt to that exact approach, jaxon

bah i mean ADOPT not ADAPT TO

Japanese sticky plastic things can be annoying, but I like the inner sleeves that come with them - the bottom's shaped like the record so it can fit in without scrunching. Though I have a feeling that there's an obvious downside to this that I just haven't thought of.

i do #2. inner sleeve pointing out so record can fall out, but outer plastic facing up, so record doesn't fall out and so when you squeeze into shelves, plastic doesn't squish out

― jaxon, Monday, September 12, 2011 11:06 PM (11 minutes ago) [IP: 209.131.62.113] Bookmark

^^^ yep me too. i keep records outside the jacket if the seams or spine are beginning to split.

god, I despise those japanese-style sticky bags too!!!

those are the worst.

kinda surprised by all the plastic bag love, tbh.

it's nice to see everyone agrees that sticky bags suck.
It looks like my collection is split pretty evenly between bagged and non-bagged.
My records are exposed to the elements (!) a lot cuz I'm always carting them out to the radio station.

other: if the record and jacket were in really good condition and the record is something i think is valuable, I will keep it in a plastic sleeve and make the effort to guard against it falling out. If it's a kinda beat up dollar record, i make less effort, though generally, avoiding dust and the record falling out are priorities.

Where's "remove the shrink wrap" vs. "leave the shrink wrap in place"?

Usually I remove it, especially since it can cause curvature in the cover after a long time, but sometimes the shrink wrap has cool stickers on it that will be lost if removed, or is colored, etc. so I leave it on.

numero dos

xp - I usually remove the shrink unless I'm out of plastic sleeves at the moment. Especially on gatefold records where you need to take it off to look at the middle

i leave the shrink wrap on records mostly, except gatefolds.

Oh I always remove the shrink wrap.
This thread is funny.

always remove the shrinkwrap. as a kid, I hated how my dad would leave it on his records (which I would borrow). gatefold comments otm - teenage me was v. frustrated that I could not fully appreciate the wall.

I've been told it's not 'archival quality' by folks that do art archiving but I'm not sure if that means it could be damaging in the long run or what. old records in it usually look no worse for wear.

I just removed the shrink wrap from a record that I didn't want to but it was coming off. The shrink had keep the record in mint condition. I usually keep the shrink on as long as I can unless I've seen signs of mold or bending.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

shit, voted #3 on accident, but I do #2

way to go, dude, you fucked up this whole thing

j/k obv, Love you, Z

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

woooooooooot

A couple years back I started buying records again for the first time since I was a kid. I was only keeping them in plastic sleeves if I had bought them in plastic sleeves.

Then one day, my wife got all excited about it and came back from her parents house with all her old records. And her records were in rough shape: dust, glitter, some of them were even covered in candle wax. I mean, god knows. I didn't especially want to be a priss about record storage, but when I saw her stack I hastily excused myself to the record store to pick up a stack of 100 plastic sleeves. I just didn't want my records to catch whatever her records had.

But so, I guess the sleeves don't fit very well and they make storage pretty wacky. Like, when I go to pull a record off the shelf, more often than not it will also pull the plastic sleeves of its neighboring records halfway off. And in re-shelving, it seems like it makes it easier to accidentally push other records back, so that they are hidden. I never had this problem before switching to the sleeves. Am I doing something wrong with the sleeves or is that just how it is?

Do you keep them in the plastic sleeves with the opening of the sleeve at the top? It adds the extra step of having to take the lp fully out of the plastic sleeve before playing, but saves the annoyance of having the lp slide in & out of the sleeve when shelving

I thought of that. The extra step wouldn't bother me. It's been my experience that some records fit in that way, but many are just a fraction of an inch too large to fit. I don't know what brand of sleeve I've got at the moment.

plastic sleeves with the opening at the top, holding a record cover with the opening on the side. this has always been my method.

the style where the opening of the plastic sleeve is on the side (on the same side as the opening of the record cover itself) drives me nuts. not only does it expose the actual record, but it also results in lots of instances of accidentally pulling the plastic sleeve off while browsing through records

I realized that my problem was only with gatefold records and it was easily solved by manually stretching the opening of the sleeve just a smidge.

i'm going to invest in those ultra clear plastic sleeves with the flap that seals at the top.

i have a friend with maybe 12,000 records and i swear he has every record in one of those.