Cleaning jackets for vinyl?

madmax
madmax Posts: 12,434
edited July 2010 in 2 Channel Audio
How do you clean the cardboard holder for vinyl records? Sometimes they smell musty, have marks or dirt on them or other debris. They are usually dusty inside too. So far I've just been dusting with a dry cloth, there must be a better way.
madmax
Vinyl, the final frontier...

Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited July 2010
    madmax wrote: »
    How do you clean the cardboard holder for vinyl records? Sometimes they smell musty, have marks or dirt on them or other debris. They are usually dusty inside too. So far I've just been dusting with a dry cloth, there must be a better way.
    madmax

    If they are really bad I wouldn't try to clean them but just toss them and buy new ones like the ones Joe wrote about that are on ebay that are a lot better than the stock ones your going to get with vinyl.
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited July 2010
    I dust them off and take a lightly dampened wash cloth and wipe them down.

    AFter some drying time I put them in a plastic sleeve.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited July 2010
    Hello,
    You have to look at what the record's jacket is made from first. If it is a paper finish with no coating use an art gum eraser. This is a pliable material that is gentle enough to not tear the paper but still has enough abrasion to remove fairly ground-in dirt.
    If the cover has a plastic coating use a small amount of Goo Gone on a cotton ball. This will remove quite a bit of surface grime and any adhesive residue left over from any pricing stickers (I hate pricing stickers on paper covers!). If you use a plastic outer jacket let the Goo Gone dry for a few hours or it will buckle the jacket. The buckle will go away eventually if you forget.
    Cheers, Ken
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited July 2010
    Shopping list:

    Art gum eraser
    Goo Gone
    Cotton balls

    I would have never thought of those, Thanks! I used to blow out the jackets with a small air compressor but every time I did it I got sick thinking about what I might be blowing out. It smelled sometimes too.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited July 2010
    No problem, Goo Gone is your friend. The citrus smell goes along way in getting any stale smells to go away. I just got two interesting looking open reel tapes and they smelled like 1956 Lucky Strikes. Or, maybe Pell Mells?
    Ken
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  • dcmeigs
    dcmeigs Posts: 708
    edited July 2010
    madmax wrote: »
    I used to blow out the jackets with a small air compressor but every time I did it I got sick thinking about what I might be blowing out. It smelled sometimes too.

    This will fix that:

    image_4115.jpg
    The world is full of answers, some are right and some are wrong. - Neil Young
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited July 2010
    Cool, I use one of those to clean the vinyl anyway.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited July 2010
    [QUOTE=Keiko;1377520]Link please.



    Same here. I break out the vac to get to the inside with the thin concentrator nozzle. 'Bout all you can do. I keep the jackets covered with 3mm clear plastic record baggies. This site is about the cheapest I've found for the outer sleeves.

    http://www.squaredealonline.com/b.asp?v=75[/QUOTE]

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330415236445&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WXI7&GUID=c9a3f0151210a09c19f4b0a4ffd0c5da&itemid=330415236445&ff4=263602_263622

    and here is where Joe talks about them.

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101122&highlight=vinyl+care
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  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited July 2010
    Keiko wrote: »
    Got it. Those are the MoFi inner sleeves. I am thinking outer jackets to replace some of mine that have deteriorated due to age. Thanks!

    ops...I misread the OP I thought he was talking about the inner sleeve not the outside one.....hate reading the forum from an iphone!...sorry!
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited July 2010
    Kenneth Swauger wrote: »
    No problem, Goo Gone is your friend. The citrus smell goes along way in getting any stale smells to go away. I just got two interesting looking open reel tapes and they smelled like 1956 Lucky Strikes. Or, maybe Pell Mells?
    Ken

    WAAAAAAAAA!!!! By-the-way Ken you spelled Pall Mall phonetically. I've tried to get that type of funky stink out of LP jackets but never could. The absolute worst is mold, it adheres itself to vinyl and tapes and grows into the material like cancer does to a vital organ.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited July 2010
    cstmar01 wrote: »
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330415236445&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WXI7&GUID=c9a3f0151210a09c19f4b0a4ffd0c5da&itemid=330415236445&ff4=263602_263622

    and here is where Joe talks about them.

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101122&highlight=vinyl+care
    cstmar01 wrote: »
    ops...I misread the OP I thought he was talking about the inner sleeve not the outside one.....hate reading the forum from an iphone!...sorry!

    Yeah I thought so! You confused me there for a minute. Here's where I have purchased hundreds of blank LP jackets that were just beyond repair especially from mold.

    http://www.sleevetown.com/LP-jackets.shtml

    I bought them to replace the jackets of the rare and audiophile records that got caught in a flood. Remember this thread?

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47245
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited July 2010
    Hey Joe,
    Thanks for the spelling correction on the ciggies, it didn't look right when I typed it. I just got the Phoenix inner sleeves from "Sleevetown" and they did a good job.
    Cheers, Ken
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited July 2010
    Kenneth Swauger wrote: »
    Hey Joe,
    Thanks for the spelling correction on the ciggies, it didn't look right when I typed it. I just got the Phoenix inner sleeves from "Sleevetown" and they did a good job.
    Cheers, Ken

    Have you compared the Phoenix inner sleeves to MFSL's? If so any difference better or worse preventing static and dust 'n dirt build up in the sleeve to contaminate the record? Is there a price difference? What materials are used in the Phoenix?
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited July 2010
    Hey Joe,
    I haven't done much of a comparison between the two. The Phoenix ones seem less prone to try and buckle the lower left hand corner, for me. You know how, sometimes, it feels like you're trying to put a size 10 foot in a size 9 boot? The inner sleeve seems to just not quite fit into the outer sleeve. I find that slightly less a problem with the Phoenix sleeves. Other than that they seem the same as far as record protection and lack of static.
    Cheers, Ken
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited July 2010
    Kenneth Swauger wrote: »
    Hey Joe,
    I haven't done much of a comparison between the two. The Phoenix ones seem less prone to try and buckle the lower left hand corner, for me. You know how, sometimes, it feels like you're trying to put a size 10 foot in a size 9 boot? The inner sleeve seems to just not quite fit into the outer sleeve. I find that slightly less a problem with the Phoenix sleeves. Other than that they seem the same as far as record protection and lack of static.
    Cheers, Ken

    I hear ya Ken, it can be a truly frustrating experience with that left hand corner fold not wanting to go in correctly. I liked MFSL old, old originals that had the rounded bottoms, then they stopped that and went with the square but for some reason, what I consider spectacular inner sleeves, they dropped the ball on sizing their newer offering. . . you would think they would have addressed that issue lo these many years that they've been out. Perhaps they made millions of them and haven't sold them all yet.

    BTW I have found it is the upper left hand corner that gives me the problem with the MFSLs, no matter how you try to get them in, a small portion of the record in said corner remains exposed.
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited July 2010
    Keiko wrote: »
    I've used the Phoenix sleeves also, Ken. I like MFSL products, but find these sleeves work just as well at protecting vinyl and cost less.

    Joe, check that Olomana LP I sent you. I believe I put it in a Phoenix inner sleeve, so you can compare.

    Sure thing Mike! I didn't know it was a boutique type sleeve.
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