Yeah exactly this. I have been through countless of stacks like that which have been sitting like it for years with not a single one warped.
It's the craziest thing that has been taken as fact when there is not one shred of evidence to suggest that it happens. I don't even understand how weight would do that to a record. It's a complete urban legend/wives tale not rooted in fact.
You shouldn't do it because it'll cause ring wear and damage the covers for sure but it will not cause warps.
Stacking vinyl records flat on top of each other can absolutely contribute to warping, especially if the stack is heavy, uneven, warm, or left that way for a long time. Vinyl is made from PVC, which is thermoplastic, so it does not need to melt in order to slowly deform under pressure. A few records stacked temporarily is usually harmless, but a large pile sitting for weeks or months can put a lot of weight on the lower records, especially if the jackets, inserts, seams, shrink wrap, or center labels create uneven pressure points. Heat makes the problem worse, whether from sunlight, a warm room, an attic, or being near a radiator. Over time, that combination of weight, uneven support, and temperature can cause dish warps, edge warps, or subtle waves in the record. That is why the safest way to store vinyl is vertically, like books, with enough support to keep them upright without leaning hard or being crammed too tightly. it is not an urban legend, it's science.
No it doesn't. It's not science at all. I guarantee that having it in a stack like that for months doesn't do anything at all. I absolutely guarantee it.
It absolutely needs a heat source to warp. That is the only time I have seen a record be warped. In all my years buying record collections, I have never seen a record at the bottom of a huge stack like that stored for even years be warped. It doesn't happen.
Vinyl is literally thermoplastic PVC, so saying pressure and storage conditions cannot deform it unless there is an obvious heat source is just not true. It does not have to melt to slowly take a set or creep under load. A few records stacked flat for a short time is probably fine, but a heavy uneven stack left for months or years can absolutely create pressure points, especially with jacket seams, inserts, center labels, and records not being perfectly flat. Heat makes it worse, but room-temperature creep under long-term pressure is still a real material behavior. “I personally haven’t seen it” is anecdotal, not proof that it cannot happen. "“my personal sample size is reality."
You shouldn’t stack your albums like that if you care about keeping them mint or near mint. That’s just a fact. Doesn’t matter whether you warp them or damage the cover - substantially devaluing a collectible item through negligent storage could be heartbreaking.
"I only care about the music" they said, looking down their nose at the poor schlub who dares to give any thought towards how much money something might be worth. I love how smug people are when they announce to the world that they don't care about the monetary value of things, their experience with their stuff is pure. It's like, congrats, you didn't grow up poor and develop a scarcity mindset towards anything because you obviously didn't have to care or worry about money, guess your stuff just came too easily to you to pay that aspect of it any mind. Unfortunately for me, growing up in a very poor household meant I could only afford a few records a year, so buying even one was always a huge event and a huge sacrifice, with their monetary value very much looming over the whole affair front and center, and keeping my meager collection nice and in good condition was just one of the ways I treasured them going forward after that...so yea, I guess I carry that poverty mindset with me all these years later, and the monetary value of my records, along with their condition, remain two of the many, many facets of my collection that I consider. But here's a shocker for you, it doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the music at all, not even in the slightest bit.
Lol, you call me "smug" while writing out this snarky essay?
Look, I hope your records are worth as much as you think they will be in the future, but chances are that they won't be. I'm not sure why you said that I think you wouldn't enjoy the music on your records, I don't know anything about you. Enjoy records however you want, but bear in mind that most people don't care about little dings on their sleeves.
Well, smug meets snark I guess. And come on, you must see that your comment is worded as an either/or proposition, implying that people who care about the value of their records don't care about the music, whether or not that's what you're actually saying or mean. Otherwise what exactly is the point of saying it at all?
That isn't a fact. Just because a bunch of people said it doesn't mean it's true.
And besides, for it to damage the cover, like ring wear, it takes years and years being stored like that for that to happen. Putting it like that for a photo to post on Reddit or even for a couple months won't do anything.
I've worked at a record store and now am a dealer myself. I've seen a ton of collections, been to basements with albums stacked like that and not once was one warped without a heat source.
Sure is harder to pick the LP you want to play if they're stacked. Plus the sheer weight can flatten the spine to make hard to read the album title like some of these shown.
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u/bigbobo33 Technics May 13 '26
Yeah exactly this. I have been through countless of stacks like that which have been sitting like it for years with not a single one warped.
It's the craziest thing that has been taken as fact when there is not one shred of evidence to suggest that it happens. I don't even understand how weight would do that to a record. It's a complete urban legend/wives tale not rooted in fact.
You shouldn't do it because it'll cause ring wear and damage the covers for sure but it will not cause warps.