Caring For Your Vinyl Records

Vinyl records are a phenomenal musical collectible for people of all ages. Its immense popularity can be chalked up to pristine audio quality, large format artwork, and the ability to hold your physical album in your hands – and how that enhances the overall listening experience. Vinyl can also be a long-lasting, durable form of audio… but that does require proper care and handling. For those of you who are just starting out your very own vinyl collection, caring for vinyl records should be a priority. After all, this ensures that your records will be well taken care of and will always sound brand new.

Cleaning Your Vinyl Records

Dust, dirt, and other debris can impact the sound quality of your vinyl records. To avoid negatively impacting your vinyl with these natural elements, then it is important to regularly clean your vinyl. Here are specific tips to help you with:

Using an antistatic brush, you can easily perform this task. This will help prepare your vinyl for deep cleaning later. Also known as the dry-cleaning technique, it ensures that less dust will interact with the records' grooves. Do this before and after playing your album.

Use a microfiber antistatic cloth to apply a record cleaning solution on the surface. Gently spread the solution around the grooves, but make sure you do not apply pressure when doing so. Otherwise, dirt may get buried on the record – and in cases of particularly hard pressure, you may even damage the grooves themselves.

• Use Appropriate Cleaning Tools

Only use cleaning tools that are specifically made to clean vinyl records – other brushes and wipes you find in your kitchen, garage, or elsewhere will not clean the record but damage it instead! Aside from the antistatic brush, microfiber antistatic cloth, and surface solution, you may also want to invest in a record-cleaning machine. 

Proper Storage and Handling

Keep your vinyl record out of trouble by ensuring that they are stored in a safe environment. There are various storage solutions that will help impact a vinyl record’s longevity. Be sure to store your records in a place with no direct sunlight or extreme temperatures. 

You should also make sure that each of your vinyl records have an inner record sleeve inside of the outer jacket. These ‘dust covers’ or inner sleeves help you keep the records in place while also helping to avoid dust encroaching on the vinyl from the outside. Position your inner sleeve so that the opening is covered inside of the jacket to maximize dust protection (meaning, your jacket should open to a closed side of the inner sleeve – you should need to take the inner sleeve completely out of the jacket to retrieve the record).

Store your records vertically to avoid any further damage to the record and the sleeves too. 

Aside from proper storage, there are also recommended methods for handling your vinyl records. It is wise to pull and push them horizontally from and to the sleeve. Make sure you hold them on the edges too, avoiding directly touching the grooves. Once you are done listening to your vinyl record, return it to its sleeve and jacket immediately.

Why Choose Freestyle Vinyl?

Since 2017, Freestyle Vinyl has customized over 25,000 vinyl records for our customers. With our passion for making, analyzing, and sharing mixtapes and mix CDs, we have changed the landscape in a world where people ought to become more familiar with digital music. We create the record that you need by making consultations with you, and knowing what you really want out of your vinyl.