The Care and Keeping of Grooves
A record is a physical document. Protecting that document from dust, gravity, and neglect is the most important ritual we practice. These are the rules. They are not complicated, but they are non-negotiable.
The Cleaning Ritual
Before Every Play: The Dry Brush
Dust is the enemy—the grit that clouds the window into the music. A carbon fiber brush, used before every single play, is your first line of defense. This isn't a suggestion; it's a mandatory, ten-second ritual that clears away surface debris and dissipates the static charge that invites more dust to the party.
The Deep Clean: The Wet Wash
Every used record is guilty until proven innocent. Assume it is filthy, coated in a film of history: decades of dust, oils from human hands, and the stubborn mold-release agent from its birth at the pressing plant. A dry brush is useless against this. To truly hear the artifact, you must give it a bath. A proper wet cleaning is the single most revelatory sonic upgrade you can make.
Stylus Care: The Point of Contact
The diamond stylus is the hero of this story, tracing miles of microscopic canyons. It cannot do its job if it is caked in grime. Keep it clean. A dedicated stylus brush (always used gently, from back to front) or a gel cleaner will remove the accumulated debris. A clean stylus doesn't just sound better; it preserves the life of both the diamond and your records.
The Art of Storage
The First Commandment: Store Vertically
This is the law. Stacking records horizontally will cause permanent, irreparable warps. Gravity is a relentless enemy. Store your collection upright, like books on a shelf, without packing them so tightly that they can't breathe.
Banish Paper Sleeves
The rough paper inner sleeves that come with many records are instruments of destruction. They shed paper dust and inflict hairline scuffs on the delicate vinyl surface. Your first act of preservation should be to replace them with archival-quality, anti-static inner sleeves. For the outside, clear polyethylene sleeves protect the jacket art from shelf wear and fading.
Mind the Environment
Your collection is a library of fragile artifacts. Attics and basements are torture chambers of extreme heat and dampness. Store your records in a space with stable temperature and humidity. And know that direct sunlight is a death sentence; it will fade a jacket and warp a record in a single afternoon.
A Word on Ancient History
78 RPM Shellac Records
When you handle a 78, you are no longer in the world of vinyl. You are in the age of shellac, a brittle resin that demands a different kind of respect:
- Use a 78 Stylus: The grooves are wider. A modern stylus will sound dreadful and damage the record. A dedicated 78 stylus is not optional.
- Avoid Alcohol: Most modern record cleaning fluids contain alcohol, which will literally dissolve shellac. Use only distilled water or a cleaner specifically formulated for 78s.
- Handle Like Glass: Because they essentially are. A dropped 78 does not bend; it shatters.