Correct Storage Environment 0

[LearnedHand]

Well, Gerber is out of acid-free boxes - indefinitely again.  BCE's prices remain absolutely insane ($50/box - what?!), Bags Unlimited has acid neutral corrugated plastic boxes, but from what I can tell, one size and it isn't necessarily wide enough and is short, so it stores only 80 books.  Any other options?

Actually, my primary discussion points:

• Acid-Free boxes. I've done a lot of research over the years on proper storage for ephemera and comic books. Basically, environment is everything. Temperature, humidity, fluctuations in either, storage materials, etc.  As an archival expert that used to do work for the Library of Congress once told me - newspaper and comic books are sponges.  They soak up the environment and you will see manifestations over time.  On that basis, I've always used acid free boxes.  But ...is there any real value in using them? I know many people say "no" because the books aren't touching the box.  But that's not the whole story, is it.  

In an acidic lidded box, the inside environment is one where the books are surrounded by an acidic material that is constantly off-gassing.  True, the acidic box isn't physically touching the books, but it is touching the mylar bags on at least one and as many as three side.  And, the acidic gas is increasing inside the box, if it's kept closed for any period of time. Now the lidded boxes aren't hermetically sealed, so some of the off-gassing will escape the box. But mylar bags aren't hermetically sealed either.  And, mylar is also somewhat gas (and moisture) permeable.  So, your books are sitting in a "closed" environment, in constant contact with an acidic material, where there is a constant acidic off-gassing. 

 

• Mylar/backing board/microchamber paper. Comic book paper itself is acidic.  I actually did an experiment in the early 1990s - left several new comic books in mylar with acid-neutral backing boards (not acid-free buffered the absorbs acidity).  10-20 years later, these acid-neutral boards were brown.  They looked burnt.  And, the comic book back cover images had, in a sense transferred (as a ghost image) onto the boards.  So, putting your books in mylar protects them from the outside world; but not from themselves.  A comic book with a Gerber full-back board is better, as the board will absorb acidity and then remain neutral.  But it will eventually reach a critical mass and not be able to absorb any more acid.  And, query whether the board is absorbing acid from the entire book or primarily the back cover (and whatever off-gasses from the book's pages). MicroChamber hasn't been deemed an archival use item by the Library of Congress, per se.  It's used, but not for the context we're discussing - sucking up acid from acidic paper.

So, still analyzing the best way to store the books.  Thoughts?    

Edited March 27, 2020 by LearnedHand

[Robot Man]

Edgar Church stored his in huge piles in a cool dark cedar closet for 30+ years. They look like they were printed yesterday...

[N e r V]

I’m trying these out for graded and non graded books for storage. They don’t have one for graded magazines so those are still in the cardboard CGC sized boxes. Also not sure exactly what I want to do with pulps. They claim acid free too. So far, so good...

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by N e r V

[Marty Mann]

Wish some of these items had been around years ago...my books spent most of there life raw in assorted cardboard boxes

from the local supermarkets.

Marty

[fishbone]

On 3/26/2020 at 9:06 PM, N e r V said:

I’m trying these out for graded and non graded books for storage. They don’t have one for graded magazines so those are still in the cardboard CGC sized boxes. Also not sure exactly what I want to do with pulps. They claim acid free too. So far, so good...

 

I bought two of these for my slabbed Superman GA and I like them alot 

[Randall Dowling]

Bags Unlimited has a very nice acid free box for comics

https://www.bagsunlimited.com/product/7981/archival-comic-storage-boxbr-11-x-7-34-x-8font-colorredbr-holds-up-to-80-comicsfont-colorbrblue-gray-corrugated-cardboard

I’ve been using the magazine version and like them quite a bit.  The only issue some may have with the magazine boxes is they have no holes on the sides for carrying.  I thought it would bother me but it hasn’t.  

[fifties]

On 3/27/2020 at 7:15 AM, Marty Mann said:

Wish some of these items had been around years ago...my books spent most of there life raw in assorted cardboard boxes

from the local supermarkets.

Marty

I hear ya.  When I got back into collecting in the early '70's, my small number of books were simply stacked raw, one on top of the other, in a closet.  Never bagged 'em until, hell I can't remember, maybe when I got on eBay in 1998 or thereabouts.  I've never noticed any page degradation in them beyond the hundreds that I've bought since, all in Mylar bags.  The low humidity here in SoCal might have something to do with that.

[LearnedHand]

On 3/26/2020 at 8:56 PM, Robot Man said:

Edgar Church stored his in huge piles in a cool dark cedar closet for 30+ years. They look like they were printed yesterday...

Exactly!  People often point to this to say "we don't need no stinking' mylar."  But I think this totally misses the point. I mean, let's compare Church's situation to, for instance, mine.  

Me: Northeast; acid rain; air pollutants; fall-out; hot humid summers; cold wet and dry winters.  All this begets my putting my books in a temp/humidity controlled dark environment.  Which also means they are now in a closed environment (mylar and backing board, in a box)  that keeps the comic acidic off-gassing with the book.

Church: perfect environment.  Cool, low humidity, dark - constantly - and nothing stopping the books from off-gassing / air exchange.

So, when people talk about Church's collection as an argument for "no need to take any special storage measures," it's like someone living in a hot, dry, no A/C house who has a pricey wine collection saying I don't need a Eurocave (or similar) because in France people just throw their bottles in their cellars - completely overlooking the fact that those cellars are naturally ideal wine storage environments.