If you're a vinyl record buff, then your collection may have become a point of contention at home. Records can take up a lot of space and, if you keep your LPs for sentimental or investment reasons rather than for regular listening, then your partner may quite reasonably wonder why you don't just dump or sell your collection to free up some room. If you can't face doing this but appreciate that your vinyl takes up too much space, then storing your collection in a self storage unit may be an option. What do you need to do to prepare your vinyl for storage?

Clean Up Your Collection

You don't want to put dusty vinyl into storage. Over time, dust becomes harder to get off records and may even cause some damage. So, before you do anything else, make sure that your records and their covers are clean and dust-free.

Protect Your Vinyl

While you can simply put vinyl records in storage as they are, you may want to consider putting each record in a plastic sleeve. This will give the cover some extra protection and help keep it in a good condition. This is especially important if some of your collection is valuable.

Pack Your Vinyl

If you want to get rid of your current vinyl storage racks as well as your music collection, then you could simply ship these racks into your storage unit to hold your records. This is a good option if you think you'll want quick access to music on a regular basis. Alternatively, buy strong cardboard boxes and stack your vinyl in them. Remember to keep all your records upright rather than stacked on top of each other – this will help ensure that your records don't warp.

Check Out Self Storage Conditions

Vinyl records can suffer from temperature extremes and changes. For example, if your unit gets too hot, too cold or gets humid, then your collection could get damaged. To be on the safe side, pick a storage unit that has climate control so that you can keep your collection at a steady temperature. For example, it is recommended that stored vinyl be kept at temperatures between 45 to 50 °F.

It's also important to talk to your self storage company about pest control, especially if you'll be storing your collection in open racks. After all, you don't want mice nibbling at your record sleeves. Self storage companies usually have their own pest control measures in place and will also be able to advise you on anything you need to do to keep pests out of your music collection.

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