Albums - 3 ring binders vs. CM or Post

I am willing to trade any wear and tear and to have easy to rearrange albums. In my experience, the wear and tear is minimal at most. So only 3 ring abums for me.

I use primarily CM for my 12x12 layouts (then Studio Calico 6x12 for PL) and think the quality and longevity is well worth the price. Have you ever seen their pocket pages? They have a full-size 12x12. I have a few batches of them, although I have primarily stuck with their base page and slide-on protector style since the base is so nice. The slide in protectors are nice and thin yet seem very strong.

Like you, I have a variety of others, but they look like a mis-match on my shelves. I like the consistency of the CM size with the color variety. And I don't like the gap in binders at all, so really never used them for my 12x12 LO's.

I know what you're saying about the difference in quality. My CM albums have been holding up for the past 20+ years, but my WMRK albums are fraying. There are some that I've just thrown out. I switched to pocket pages with my latest CM album so I could have the freedom of moving things around, but CM products are sooooo expensive. They look beautiful on the shelves in my living room, though, so I'm kind of at a crossroads with what kind of album to use. I'm also trying to move away from 12X12, so my current album is a 9X12 from Scrapbook.com. I like the freedom of choosing either pocket pages or a whole-page layout. Hopefully the sb.com albums will still look nice ten years from now.

I use the WRMK and haven't had any issues with wear or tear for my 12x12 albums. Some of mine are at least 15 years old. I started using Scrapbook.com albums about three years ago, when I switched from 12x12 to 9x12 project life scrapping.

I use 12x12 ring albums from doodlebug and I love them - no issues so far with regards to being able to store a lot of layouts, wear and tear etc. I cannot go back to post bound I hate having to move heaps of layouts to slot in one page etc

I don’t like post bound. They are harder to add to, and don’t hold as much. I don’t like having to add extenders. I feel like it weakens the spine.

I also prefer 3-ring albums. I always thought WRMK were the gold standard in quality, but many of my faux leather albums are now disintegrating on the shelf, with little to no handling of them. It’s really disappointing that the faux leather is flaking off or even sticking to the shelf itself. My PL albums (made by AC) are holding up well, and so are my Simple Stories as far as I can tell (although they don’t make 12x12 anymore). I haven’t needed to buy a new 12x12 album in a long time since I stocked up on the PL albums when Michaels clearanced them out, but my plan is to try SB dot com’s 12x12. It’s also good to hear positive reviews of Doodlebug - I may give them a try. I also have a Pioneer 12x12, but only bought it last year for a specific project, so haven’t had it long enough to judge.

I know what you mean about the page protectors not holding up. When the bottom of the album is not flush with the bottom of the page protectors ( like WRMK albums), then the page protectors hang and it puts stress on them (when stored upright), especially the top hole/ring, and stretches the hole out and even tears it. This is especially true if your pages have more bulk/weight with layers and embellishments.

I switched to 3 ring binders about 10 years ago and have had no problems. At first I used American Crafts but then I started getting Paper Studio ones from Hobby Lobby.

I actually just googled for anyone having issues with these WRMK albums and came to this post. I am having the same flaking issues. I barely ever open my albums. No water damage/sun issues. Yet my expensive "faux leather" albums seem to be disintegrating! I opened a black one up and the entire inside is falling apart and sticking to my pages! The WRMK fabric covered ones are holding up beautifully. I just wrote AC an email with pictures and told them to stop marketing these albums as archival quality. They are charging almost $40 for something that apparently lasts less than a decade! Sorry to know I'm not alone (and that we've all wasted money on these albums. I wish I'd noticed the issues before I bought 4 more last year!)

I switched to 3-ring 12x12 and have WRMK faux leather. They are so HUGE and unwieldy to look through. Not a fan. The rings get malaligned, the page protectors are not wearing well, and neither is the exterior of some of the albums.

I decided a couple of years ago not to buy any more, though I still had some that I had stocked up on. I sold those a month or so ago at a scrapbook store yard sale. I decided to go with CTMH postbound...well, that's not happening, is it?

But it was between the CTMH PB and Creative Memories. Creative Memories it is, then! I will use the top loading sleeves that you can put 12x12 non-CM layouts in and see how I like that. CTMH makes (made) them for strap-hinge (CM) albums, so I stocked up on quite a few of those before they ran out of them in their closing sale. I have about a half-dozen CTMH postbound albums waiting to be filled and I guess after that, I'll move back to the CM albums.

CM albums are what I started with. So I guess it's a full circle thing for me. I'm not mad about it. My CM albums are much easier to look through and have held up great.

I've gone back and forth over the years. I started about 20 years ago with AC three ring albums. Big and bulky, but at the time seemed like the best choice. Then my scrapping got smaller and for years a used Simple Stories 6 x 8 albums. Still love them, even though I'm using them a lot less now.

I came back to 12 x 12 scrapping about a year ago and wasn't happy with the old AC albums when I went to use them. I was doing more double page layouts and I didn't like the spread between the two pages. So about 6 months ago I tried postbound albums by Pioneer. That was a disaster. The layouts didn't fit in the page protectors, they got squashed and bent. I decided that it wasn't worth having the 2 pages side by side if it was going to be a mess.

I went back to 3 ring, and this time I tried the Scrapbook .com albums. So far, I'm very happy with them. Granted, it's only been a few months, but I like the way they look and how the layouts sit in them. Back to big and bulky, but for me it seems to be the lesser of the evils.

I love the flexibility of 3-ring albums. I don't feel obligated to scrap photos in order so that they come "next" in the album. I use the d-ring style, and store them flat while I am filling them, and only stand them on end when they have enough pages to hold their shape and not flop around. I also teach people who are looking through them how to carefully move the pages back to the back cover a few at a time, rather than grabbing all the pages and trying to flip them back at once. Another key for me is to use quality page protectors that don't tear or slip out of the rings.

CM has been full 12x12 since 2008.  You can also get top loading pages so you can move the layouts around easily.