Do Not Use PVC Outer Sleeves For Your Vinyl Collection - Here Is Why with video evidence!

I have been collecting records since the early 1970s, first vinyl then a few cassettes and then CDs. Today I buy CDs and Vinyl Records. The CDs tend to look after themselves but as we all know Vinyl Records need a bit more care!
So the one thing that many of us do is invest in some sort of outer sleeve to protect the cover. I have always chosen PVC covers, the reason being they are sturdy, crystal clear and you can fit onto gatefold sleeves and still open the cover. Ideal...or so I thought.

Over the years older PVC covers have bubbled and become brittle and discoloured. I have simply replaced them with whatever was available at the time. This latest batch was from a well-known supplier and were extra thick and sturdy perhaps smelling more like a blow-up beach football than a record cover!

I had been reading a blog post about the dangers of PVC covers and how they can damage your records first with the covers and then even the vinyl.

This sent me down a rabbit hole trying to find evidence that this was not true. Instead, I found more and more people saying the same thing and I even found damming reports on the Steve Hoffman forum and the Times and Telegraph websites.
So for my own state of mind, I decided to go through my record collection to see if anything was amiss.
The first album I picked up was Pump by Aerosmith, I pulled it out of the cover and a small part of the sleeve came with it. Horrified I then spent hours going through every album. You can see the results in the video, I now have some albums which can never have their sleeves removed because of damage it will cause. I had to cut off some covers with scissors!

I have now removed ALL of my PVC sleeves, (it is amazing how heavy they all were and the amount of space it has freed up!) However, I now need to find an alternative outer sleeve solution for my records.

So what do you use?
Do you use PVC (please don't;) or Polythene or the resealable Blake type covers?

Please let me know in the comments

Thank you for your support.
Phil
Now Spinning Magazine
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