Milk Crates for 12" Vinyl

by Kevin Healy

Milk crates are becoming a highly sought after item. College students love them, and DJ's or vinyl enthusiasts need them for storage of their music collections. Well I will tell you what crates fit records, where to get them, and also explain a few alternate uses for milk crates.

Milk Crates for 12" Records

You can buy milk crates in a store and these ones are big enough to fit records but the best milk crates are the ones that are from the seventies and eighties. they do not have the crosshatching construction on the side of the crate they do on the bottom but the sides are flat sheets of plastic reinforced around the edges.

Other Uses of Milk Crates

If your milk crate doesn't fit records nicely than don't worry you can still use them for many other uses: I have a 1946 milk bottle crate that works as a great magazine rack for all of my music magazines, I just curl them up and they fit in the spot where the milk bottle goes.

As any college student has quickly figured out, that milk crates make very cheap furniture.

Coffee table = two milk crates and a long piece of plywood
End table = one milk crate turned upside down
Bookshelf = three milk crates turned sideways stacked on top of each other,
Footstool = same as end table

and the list goes on, but I'm sure I've made my point on the limitless uses of a milk crate.

Where to Find Milk Crates

There are many places that you can find record crates, you can buy them at DJ record stores, and I believe that Walmart still sells them. but the ones that you buy from there are of a much cheaper quality and wont hold the weight of 100 records very well. Sometimes there just laying around an old garage, or store, be polite and don't steal them if you ask the shop keeper, you might be able to convince him to give you one.

Whether they fit 12" vinyl or not milk crates have a variety of uses, so keep an eye out and look for them. It seems when you want one, you cant find one, but when your not looking for one you see one, get 'em well you can.