Since I’ve already written about all of the actors in the play today, I choose something else entirely. somebody asked me recently about storing records. So I’d like to share my experiences. There might be some advice in here too.
First of all, weather and sunlight do damage to records, so keep them dry and out of direct sunlight. I recommend using outer sleeves to protect the cover, but do always use PE (polyethylene) material. I’ve written earlier about PVC, and can tell you, the results are not funny at all. For the inside I am using white paper sleeves with plastic on the inside. The combination makes sure that I can easily put it back in the cover after use. However, some records are so valuable that I’m not using the outside cover. For those I leave the record outside of the cover, but inside the outer protective sleeve.
Store records vertically, or they might warp. As to where to store them: if you don’t own that many, don’t bother with any elaborate solution. It depends a bit on your ambitions. I knew years ago that I’m a collector and like to have many records. So I store them on home built shelves fixed to the wall. I built it from floorboards. I figured that these are sturdy enough not to bend under the load. I also installed vertical dividers for support. At the front of each shelf I added a small strip of mdf to make the result pleasing to the eye.
A good ready made solution is made by IKEA and called Kallax. This is a stand-alone construction that has the right size and height to hold a lot of records. They’ve been popular and well known among collectors.