10 Things Not to do to Your Vinyl Records

[Mitch]

A real vinyl record collector would never commit any of these TEN sins to their records.

In our previous article How To Clean Vinyl Records you learned all about cleaning your records with a vacuum record cleaning machine or by hand and also cleaning with regular household items. We now turn to things NOT to do to your vinyl records. Vinyl records are treasures to enjoy, but one must treat them with care as they are very fragile and easily damaged. Below are things that one should NOT do to vinyl records as it can cause damage and/or impede their sound quality. Please take the following into consideration and remember a "real" record lover wouldn't do these:

record lover wouldn't do these:

Stop using your shaky hand

Here's how to properly cue up a song on a vinyl record: Use the cueing lever on your turntable to raise and lower the needle. Your hands are never truly steady and it's easy to slip up and gouge the grooves of a record or even break the needle on your cartridge. Never drop or abruptly pick up the needle on a vinyl record especially as it's fading out. Over time you'll start to hear ticks and pops as the vinyl is gradually getting gouged in those areas. Use the cueing lever and aim to cue up a song just before the music starts so that the needle SLOWLY drops in the silent area of the grooves and not in the areas with music. Also, wait for the music to fade out completely or stop before picking up the needle. Better still is to play an entire album side straight through.

Do NOT stack vinyl records

Never stack records on top of each other whether in their jackets or not. This is one sure fire way to cause warping, possible cracking of the vinyl record because of the weight and will inevitably produce scuff marks and ring wear on the record's album cover marring the artwork. Records must always be stored upright like books on a shelf.

Wet playing a vinyl record is not a cure

Never wet play a vinyl record in an attempt to quiet the crackle and pops. Doing so only forces the abrasive sludge deeper into the grooves as the needle makes its way around the record possibly doing irreversible damage. This makes the record sound even worse as the crud has dried embedding the dirt throughout the record. The liquid goop will also muck up the delicate cantilever and needle assembly on phono cartridges possibly causing the assembly to detach from the cartridge as the adhesive deteriorates from the liquid. It can also damage the turntable as the fluid can mar the surface and get into the moving parts.

Keep fingers off the record

Never touch the record's playing surface with your bare hands or fingers as your body oil will transfer onto the record attracting even more dust and affecting the sound quality. Always hold a record by its outer edges only. If you accidentally touch a record it's best to immediately clean it with a liquid record cleaner or isopropyl alcohol and making sure it is dry before putting it away.

Your T-shirt is not a record cleaner

Resist the temptation to wipe your vinyl record with your shirt or dry cloth no matter how soft it may feel. This will scratch and scuff the record and only move the dirt around. For dry cleaning or light touch up, use a carbon fiber record cleaning brush as it actually discharges static and lifts dirt without damaging the vinyl record.

Say NO to non-approved cleaners on your vinyl records

Do not use lubricants or solvents such as baby oil, lighter fluid... no matter what anyone may tell you. These fluids can cause a devastating chemical reaction that can permanently damage a record. Use only products labelled as a vinyl record cleaner such as Discwasher D4 for manual cleaning or Nitty Gritty Pure 2 Record Cleaning Solution for vacuum record cleaning machines. If it's not specifically labelled for use on vinyl records then do NOT use it.

Wait for the record platter to STOP

Never place or pick up a vinyl record as the turntable platter is spinning. This will quickly scratch the flipside of a record. Always wait for the platter to come to a complete stop before doing anything.

Don't mar that beautiful album cover art with tape

Refrain from using Scotch tape or packaging tape to fix a record cover that is splitting or tearing. It will completely destroy the cover. As the cellophane tape ages, it becomes brittle, yellows, gooey and making things worse than before. Best to place the record jacket in a poly outer sleeve and place the record in its inner sleeve behind it or place the record in its inner sleeve inside a generic cardboard record jacket and save the original jacket for safekeeping.

Dropping records into a sleeve or jacket is a NO-NO

Resist the temptation to let a record just plop into an inner sleeve and/or record jacket as this is how covers and sleeves split open. Here's how to properly put a record into its sleeve/jacket: Simply hold the slightly bowed open cover horizontally and gently slide the record in making sure it doesn't bind.

Never leave your records out of their sleeves longer than necessary

Put vinyl records away when you're done. Remove a record from the turntable platter as soon as you are finished listening to it to prevent it from attracting dust and dirt. The only time a record should be outside its protective sleeve and jacket is when it is actually being played. No excuses!

We hope the above list helps you preserve your valuable records for years to come.

[Scottie]

Keep fingers off the record

Never touch the record's playing surface with your bare hands or fingers as your body oil will transfer onto the record attracting even more dust and affecting the sound quality. Always hold a record by its outer edges only. If you accidentally touch a record it's best to immediately clean it with a liquid record cleaner or isopropyl alcohol and making sure it is dry before putting it away.

fiend would have something to say about this lel

[Mitch]

P.S. Some of these are hard to obey when DJing

[OxyKon]

Yeah like waiting for the platter to stop, writer pls

[russell]

this is an audiophiles guide to record.

DJ's could never follow most of these...

my t-shirt is a damn good record cleaner

[subweight]

Waiting for the platter to stop is not gonna happen.

[wrxfiend]

Keep fingers off the record

Never touch the record's playing surface with your bare hands or fingers as your body oil will transfer onto the record attracting even more dust and affecting the sound quality. Always hold a record by its outer edges only. If you accidentally touch a record it's best to immediately clean it with a liquid record cleaner or isopropyl alcohol and making sure it is dry before putting it away.

fiend would have something to say about this lel

Hahahaha you damn right!

Pieces of wax are sluts that will let anyone finger them! And i for one try to finger as many as possible!

[Sevrin]

Could I have a link to the 'how to clean vinyl records article?' can't seem to find it, cheers. 

I get that it's hard to abstain from these 'sins' when you're djing, but after spending my rent money on a few rare funk 7"s, I reckon I'll take this advice!!

 

[Mitch]

5 minutes ago, Sevrin said:

Could I have a link to the 'how to clean vinyl records article?' can't seem to find it, cheers. 

I get that it's hard to abstain from these 'sins' when you're djing, but after spending my rent money on a few rare funk 7"s, I reckon I'll take this advice!!

 

I think this is what you're looking for

http://www.discomusic.com/101-more/6193_0_7_0_C/

[LabRat]

I've sinned some of these. 1 thing I can say is I've never stacked records. It's common sense really 

[Mitch]

I am also guilty. It's a bit hard when DJing to follow a lot of these, so I'd say it's more of an audiophile guide.