Poly record sleeves safe

[Patto]

HI Guys

Was reading the other day about vinyl being adversly effected by storing them in tightly packed boxes housed in plastic outer sleeve covers.Saw the you tube video on the subject by John Manship who seems to imply that there can be a problem with the old very thick sleeves.Has anyone had any probs using the thinner ones pictured below.

[John Hart]

Hi Pat,

          As a picture cover 45 Motown fanatic ,need support for those fragile P/Cs so acknowledging Mannys warnings changed to 250 g polythene Covers ! after 2 years no problema ,from my experience its all about conditions of storage, ; pack loosely , in ambient temp ,;damp , in the garage or attic is a killer, well ventilated room, I always handle with surgical rubber gloves , Cheers ,John .

[Guest]

2 hours ago, John Hart said:

 ,from my experience its all about conditions of storage, ; pack loosely , in ambient temp ,;damp , in the garage or attic is a killer, well ventilated room, I always handle with surgical rubber gloves , Cheers ,John .

Thats what i have found.  Plastic sleeves are ok in a dry room with no damp. 

If the room is damp with condensation etc, the sleeves will entrain moisture into them.

[Benji]

Nothing wrong with using plastic outer sleeves for 45s. As long as you user a paper inner sleeve as well and don't use the poly-lined inner sleeves! Even when stored in a rather damp environment I never had problems with the plastic sleeves for 45s.

Unlike LPs. Some tend to get tiny mold spots on the cover when stored in a damp environment. I guess that depends on the colour the used for printing the covers. However you can simply wipe off these spots. No serious harm done.

[Godzilla]

Not seen the Manship video, but I believe the issue is with certain types of PVC sleeves and over the past 10 years or so a lot of collectors have switched to polythene instead, which seems less problematic. It's not just damp either - heat, humidity and UV exposure can all speed up the leeching of plasticizer from the PVC.  It can take years for the effects to be noticeable, however - and by then it's too late.

[Paul Royle]

 

Edited August 3, 2018 by Paul Royle

[Mal C]

All my Aussie collection in those polly sleeves as the company bags/ sleeves are all over size and a bit delicate:-) no problems in the last 12 years

you gotta keep em at the right temp I guess otherwise it’s like wearing a cagoule on a summer dia! 

[John Hart]

Re Mannys ,Video ,

                              Now we Know what the guy is on when he writes those Delightful  O.T.T. Record Reviews, A Cocktail of;  Black Sheep Ale, Coke ,and 2 Cans of Petrol ! 

[45cellar]

On 02/08/2018 at 17:38, John Hart said:

Hi Pat,

          As a picture cover 45 Motown fanatic ,need support for those fragile P/Cs so acknowledging Mannys warnings changed to 250 g polythene Covers ! after 2 years no problema ,from my experience its all about conditions of storage, ; pack loosely , in ambient temp ,;damp , in the garage or attic is a killer, well ventilated room, I always handle with surgical rubber gloves , Cheers ,John .

I have not had any problem with polythene Covers, so far.

Anyone know if ALL the recently manufactured Clear Cello Bags are OK for Picture Sleeves, etc.

Some state acid free and lignin free which I believe has not always been the case.

[Godzilla]

18 hours ago, Mal C said:

All my Aussie collection in those polly sleeves as the company bags/ sleeves are all over size and a bit delicate:-) no problems in the last 12 years

 

 

9 hours ago, 45cellar said:

I have not had any problem with polythene Covers, so far.

 

As I said in my reply, it's not about polythene sleeves. The PVC ones are the problematic ones. Think of it in terms of vinyl/styrene if that helps folks!

[Cover-up]

And the brown card poly-lined sleeves are the worst - if the vinyl is in direct contact with polythene (and additionally housed in a PVC outer sleeve) then it's like the perfect storm... It's more common with albums - prog rock seems to be especially vulnerable (Vertigo albums etc.), probably because there's more chance of it sitting on a shelf unplayed for decades (some would say, rightfully!).

[Patto]

Done a lot of research on this over the last couple of months.It appears there are no problems with the Poly sleeves as pictured in my first post and as pic below.I personally like using these as it protects the labels from ring wear when stored and when playing out.When DJ ing I like to get my records out of my box and put them to one side on the table.The poly gives that added bit of protection.

 

Edited September 22, 2018 by Patto

[Guest]

Pat, please tell me I'm wrong, but it looks as if you don't have a paper inner sleeve with that Skull Snaps 45, am I right? If so, rather than worrying about poly outer sleeves I would suggest you focus on adding a paper sleeve with one of it's closed edges at the top reducing the chance of any debris getting in directly from above, or go over to the polylined sleeves I use as shown in the photo below. If any debris gets into a cardboard only housing, the record is going to get damaged because the card has no give in it. Added to that, the inner texture of a card sleeve with repeated use will damage the record.

Regards the poly outers as shown in your photo, if you're still to continue using them the opening edge needs to be rotated to 3 o'clock so that debris can't get in from above. If they are too big to fit in the box that way then using a steel edge and a snap off blade you can trim them. One things for certain Pat, the current set up you have needs to be addressed asap. Hope this helps. Martin

Edited November 23, 2018 by Guest

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, Martin S said:

Pat, please tell me I'm wrong, but it looks as if you don't have a paper inner sleeve with that Skull Snaps 45, am I right? If so, rather than worrying about poly outer sleeves I would suggest you focus on adding a paper sleeve with one of it's closed edges at the top reducing the chance of any debris getting in directly from above, or go over to the polylined sleeves I use as shown in the photo below. If any debris gets into a cardboard only housing, the record is going to get damaged because the card has no give in it. Added to that, the inner texture of a card sleeve with repeated use will damage the record.

Regards the poly outers as shown in your photo, if you're still to continue using them the opening edge needs to be rotated to 3 o'clock so that debris can't get in from above. If they are too big to fit in the box that way then using a steel edge and a snap off blade you can trim them. One things for certain Pat, the current set up you have needs to be addressed asap. Hope this helps. Martin

I have used these brown polylined sleeves for 40 years and never had a problem. 

As long as they are kept in a dry room with no condensation, they are great!

Bare card sleeves lightly scratch the vinyl when the record comes in and out!

[Benji]

2 hours ago, solidsoul said:

Bare card sleeves lightly scratch the vinyl when the record comes in and out!

I surely agree to that. I used to store my records only in card sleeves and noticed all those tiny little hardly visible scratches over time. Then I used paper inner sleeves plus card board sleeves. Protects the records 100% but also takes up lots of space. I use them 150 count card board boxes* for storages. With paper and card board sleeves I only fit max. 100 in one box, that's 1/3 less. If you have only limited storage capacity that's quite an issue. My storage capacity is rather limited so I now use paper inner sleeves plus heavy duty outer poly sleeves to prevent the labels rubbing on each other. That way I fit about 130-140 records in a 150 count box.

 

* 150 if you use paper sleeves only.