By Derek Howie
Here’s a great little tip for opening shrink wrap on your brand-new vinyl without the need for the severity of using knives or scissors.
It was revealed to me at the counter of a specialist Dance music shop in the 1990s; a genre that basically propped up the vinyl production industry when the majority had turned to CDs.
Simply, take a textured cloth such as a tea towel or face cloth, and rub it along the sealed opening edge of the record’s sleeve. The friction between the shrink wrap and the cloth causes the plastic to split cleanly; Job is done!
Whether you choose to leave the rest of the shrink wrap on is up to you, but you can now access the disc and play it.
Alan Vega "Mutator" (2021) by Sacred Bones, limited edition of 500 copies, pressed on clear and red dark smoke. Photo by Andrea Coloma
