The Lifespan of an LP?

Many of my LPs are from the 60's and still sound great. Obviously vinyl quality varies. The thin stuff from the oil crisis is an example of some of the shoddy pressings around. The real risk is unintentional damage taking out the LP, putting it on the turntable, applying the stylus etc. Secondly it's the risk of using a damaged, worn out stylus, it happens.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed how silly LP prices are becoming. I am selling off my most of my modest collection of about 2500 albums. I don't want to burden my kids with getting rid of them, when I fall off my perch eventually. A friend who is a record dealer is doing it. The Dylan "Rolling Thunder" box set went for over £400 and Alison Krauss and Union Station Live, for £310. That's just Crazy.

Yep me too. May records I have are from the fifties a new sixties and still sound better then many reissues. Lifespan? With something like 5k, until I’m tired of hearing it

Like 199a6 I have used Last Record Preservative and Last Power Cleaner on all new records worth keeping since Last first appeared in the late '60's or early '70's.  Cleaning a new record with Power Cleaner often removes a layer of "grunge" that new records have, and the Last Record Preservative (which claims to prevent 50 playings) lives up to its hype.  I can take a record from 1970 and it can sound brand new (better than new, actually, because it was Power Cleaned first.)  I have never bought a wash machine because I have never felt the need for it.

When cared for properly, likely far longer than your lifespan. 

 I'm 69 years old.
I bought the "Best of the Animals in 1965".
It still sounds good now when I play it on my LP12.
We had a Magnavox console stereo growing up. Luckily, it wasn't trashed with that old heavy tonearm, and cartridge.