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Cold

Started by B-Smooth,

23 posts in this topic

B-Smooth

B-Smooth

Posted
Posted

Wtf? It's -20 here today, and I've spent most of my life in Florida. Nothing survives in -40 wind chill. Will my books that are in the mail today be damaged in any way? I won't be home until tonight, so the books will probably be in a cardboard/priority envelope combo for hours. I don't know? My guess is no, but maybe the cold weather people can chime in?

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The Kaptain

The Kaptain

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Hopefully your books are in a heated mail truck... However, once you get them in the house, leave them in the box for a while and let them get up to room temp slowly. If they are frozen and you expose them to hot air quickly condensation could form, which is bad.

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B-Smooth

B-Smooth

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Books love cold. Some of the collections with the nicest colors and whitest pages have been found in the colder climates.

Paper is definitely happier in cool, dry places.. But I definitely see what the Kaptain is saying. At that temperature, things are just annihilated.

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The Kaptain

The Kaptain

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Yeah, I would agree that heat and humidity are far worse than cold and dry.

 

However, any sudden extreme change in temperature is possibly worst of all. A comic going from 10 degrees to 70 degrees in a few minutes is not good.

 

Odds are though that your books will be fine.

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Topnotchman

Topnotchman

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Books are not subject to wind chill temperatures, so that part is irrelevant. If its just a few days in a cold mail truck is not going to be a problem. However opening the package quickly in a warm house can lead to some moisture condensation. Leaving the package for a few hours to slowly reach room temperature would elevate that.

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B-Smooth

B-Smooth

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I don't see a problem at all. :sumo: Your books were in way more danger in Florida. :grin:

Long term, yes. Florida was hell on the pages. I've lived in cold climates before, but wasn't collecting at the time. I gently thawed out the books from -20 to 70 degrees. :grin:

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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Posted

 

However, any sudden extreme change in temperature is possibly worst of all. A comic going from 10 degrees to 70 degrees in a few minutes is not good.

 

Odds are though that your books will be fine.

 

I agree with this but with one caveat. The changes in temperature (and also humidity) over time is the main culprit. Not just one shift. The reason is that over time the cellulose fibers are stressed with continuing changes in heat and humidity. Not just one instance.

 

As topnotchman rightly said:

 

However opening the package quickly in a warm house can lead to some moisture condensation. Leaving the package for a few hours to slowly reach room temperature would elevate that.

 

That is an instance where extremes can cause damage. But just a single fluctuation in storage conditions? Not really.

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JollyComics

JollyComics

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Books love cold. Some of the collections with the nicest colors and whitest pages have been found in the colder climates.

 

Recently, I brought all my old childhood beat-up comic books from my parents' cottage in Wisconsin (mostly they were back in 1977 to 1981 before I went to the college). All windows were boarded up for the winters over the years. The heat was completely turned off. We went up there for the summertimes. Sometimes, it was so hot and humid. We used a cheap air condition box to keep cooling inside. All comic books were kept inside the wooden drawers of the TV stand for many years.

 

Finally I opened all pages after 30 years. All pages are WHITE as bones! 30 years in heatless winter days (7 long months) and hot/humid days (average 2 1/2 months).

 

Delivering the mail is lasting a week or less. That won't hurt the comic book.

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BEAUMONTS

BEAUMONTS

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-50 here right now, and I've received comics in this temperature. I just bring the package in the house and don't open for a couple of hour's. No problem what so ever (thumbs u

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divad

divad

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-50 here right now, and I've received comics in this temperature. I just bring the package in the house and don't open for a couple of hour's. No problem what so ever (thumbs u

 

Certainly not a bad precaution, but I doubt not opening is necessary. Not reading, perhaps, but certainly you can open the package and unwrap them (without handling them) until they are at room temp.

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namisgr

namisgr

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-50 here right now, and I've received comics in this temperature. I just bring the package in the house and don't open for a couple of hour's. No problem what so ever (thumbs u

 

Certainly not a bad precaution, but I doubt not opening is necessary. Not reading, perhaps, but certainly you can open the package and unwrap them (without handling them) until they are at room temp.

 

As the package warms up, condensation of any humidity trapped inside is a real concern. It's never a bad precaution to let cold packages warm to room temp before opening them.

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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I may do an experiment. I will take a worthless comic and put it in the freezer overnight. The next day I will take it out of the freezer and put it into a warm oven (under 200 degrees) and see what happens...

 

If you decide to do that I would also suggest putting a second comic in the warm oven without putting it in the freezer for something to compare. I see the oven causing any damage rather than the transition from freezer to oven.

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B-Smooth

B-Smooth

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-50 here right now, and I've received comics in this temperature. I just bring the package in the house and don't open for a couple of hour's. No problem what so ever (thumbs u

Yeah, you definitely know the cold. It gets that cold here, sometimes. When it's like that, you could crawl into your freezer to get warmed up. Ridiculous.

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