Guides
Turntables, buying, cleaning, cataloging. The practical questions every collector runs into.
How to Clean Vinyl Records
The complete guide to cleaning vinyl records: the everyday brush habit, when a record needs a wet clean, every cleaning method from a five-dollar brush to an ultrasonic machine, what to never use, and how to dry records properly.
May 27, 2026 · 16 min readHow to Start a Vinyl Record Collection
A complete beginner's guide to starting a vinyl collection: what it really costs, choosing a turntable that won't wreck your records, buying your first ones, where to shop, caring for them, and the mistakes to skip.
May 26, 2026 · 12 min readA Beginner's Guide to Discogs
What Discogs is and how to actually use it: the database, the release page, cataloging your collection, the Wantlist, and buying and selling records safely. The complete beginner's guide, with screenshots.
May 25, 2026 · 12 min readHow to Catalog Your Vinyl Collection on Discogs
The complete guide to cataloging your records on Discogs: adding releases, matching the exact pressing, grading condition, organizing with folders and custom fields, tracking value, and keeping it all accurate.
May 25, 2026 · 12 min readHow to Tell Which Pressing of a Record You Own
Two copies of the same album are rarely the same record. A complete guide to identifying your pressing using catalog numbers, deadwax matrix codes, label clues, and Discogs.
May 25, 2026 · 8 min read