ha, i’d ditched the outer sleeves anyway without knowing about any of that, just because i didn’t like the way they looked/sat in my shelves
vindication
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Theyre utter ■■■■■■ of things. Get all bunched up. I wasnt sad to see em go
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I was gonna say if you ever see the Central Station/Metal for Melbourne sleeves thats what I’m talking about…! Here’s hoping it’s not all bad news and i’m sorry to be the one to bring it your attention!
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So…
I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. Went through and played all those I’d kept in pvc sleeves. Only around 10-ish with any sign of ghosting (and only on one side which is curious in itself…)
Of those, only one had any indication of any sound issues… a cyclic kind of whistling, like a steam train in the distance. I’m not convinced it’s not pressed into the vinyl to be honest (don’t know if I’ve ever actually played it before).
XTC vinyls all fine. Phew…
Anyway, offending sleeves are now gone and I feel relieved.
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So this is something that I have grown accustomed to seeing, especially over here in the west. Another name for it is vinyl outgassing, and essentially, if the air around the record starts to get warm, i.e. sitting in a room that starts to heat up from the sun, or like many old collections, out in the tin shed or garage, the pvc covers starts to emit a gas. The gas itself permeates straight through cardboard, paper and the good old inner sleeve and attaches itself to the record. You can easily see it, it looks to me like an oil spill on water.
The issue comes down to these PVC molecules bonding to the surface of the record, essentially creating a permanent dirt on the pressing that you notice as that hiss you would get from an uncleaned record. This is a petrochemical bond and there is no known way to reverse it. If you look online, there is a photo of one record with a perfect rectangle of pristine vinyl, surrounded by outgassing. It was protected by a plastic sticker on the album cover.
Truly heartbreaking when you are checking out some records that will beautifully fill a hole in your collection, or that you think are going to be an absolute steal, you pull it out of the cover and know instantly that the record isn’t worth 50 cents. Whenever I find one I explain to the seller why I won’t pay good money for the record, some understand, others continue to demand stupid prices for a worthless piece of vinyl, normally because they are selling because they don’t have a turntable to listen to them anymore, therefore you have no way to prove what you are saying to them is true.
And for those asking, the polypropylene ones are safe to use, and I actually prefer them, they are available in multiple thicknesses and sizes to suit from 7" single all the way up to new double and triple albums on 180g vinyl.
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Just done my cleansing
I do have a lot of newer albums with the plastic covers should I do the same or is new plastic better than old plastic legit question
The really thin modern polypropylene bags are apparently OK. It’s those old thick PVC sleeves (like the Jetts one in your photo) that are the problem. The way it’s yellowed and crumpled with age is a sure sign of degradation.
I’m going to take the @Doggatron approach and just let my whole collection go naked.
The only thing I can’t address is a couple of picture discs which come in PVC sleeves with stuff printed on them. Not sure what to do about them.
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Forgot I had another draw of Vinyls, so another bag of plastic , but what to do with picture vinyl
Are they safe, or need relocating
Why take the risk, on the ■■■■ plastic
Genre/period based, with artists sitting up against each other if they’re connected 
Oh, and they’re all 33rpm. I have to manually change the belt under the platter on my turntable, so I take 45s out and group them on another shelf so I can spin them in sessions without constant changing back and forth!
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We’re getting into real High Fidelity terrain here…
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Is there anything printed on them to say what they are made of? If there is, it is only the PVC that I am aware of having this issue.
Just on the PVC sleeve = bad thing for vinyl records…
I stumbled upon a Youtube video made by an Aussie guy, in which he claims to remove vinyl misting by using two (what appear to be car cleaning) products - PlastX and ScratchX, which are both readily available from Repco and Autobarn.
Have to say, I’m super skeptical though the results appear to be impressive. I’m gonna give it a crack. I wouldn’t take the plunge on anything of monetary or sentimental value, but I just happen to have a couple of copies of a 12" single (not particularly valuable), one of which has noticeable misting on one side of the vinyl. It will be the perfect guinea pig, and I won’t be bothered if I ruin it.
I’ll report back…
I’ve also read about Autoglym Bumper and Trim Gel supposedly doing the job… again, skeptical…
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You have to tell us what the lab rat is…
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I love that film. That scene in particular had me howling with laughter in the cinema…
"Woah woah woah, what was that!?
I think it was Blue Monday.
Man, that was an original pressing!
For farks sake!"
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Found 18 lps in a demon pvc cover. About 10% of my humble collection. Took the covers off, haven’t looked at the surface, guess I have to play them all now anyway 
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Nothing humble about 200 odd records my friend. That is a healthy little hobby.
