How big do temperature shifts need to be to cause damage? 0

[ToiBoi]

The room where I store my comics fluctuates from 64 to 72 degrees. It does not change immediately but it could be anywhere on that range throughout the day.

 

will this damage my comics?

[Avi]

Yes! Such a HUGE difference will damage the tender page fibers. The room should be 66F and only 2% humidity.

You should look to hermetically seal the room as well.

[theCapraAegagrus]

5 minutes ago, Avi said:

Yes! Such a HUGE difference will damage the tender page fibers. The room should be 66F and only 2% humidity.

You should look to hermetically seal the room as well.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Avi]

Just now, theCapraAegagrus said:

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Surprised I beat you to this...busy work day?

[theCapraAegagrus]

1 minute ago, Avi said:

Surprised I beat you to this...busy work day?

No.

I've just been doing research on other hobbies.

[ToiBoi]

2 hours ago, Avi said:

Yes! Such a HUGE difference will damage the tender page fibers. The room should be 66F and only 2% humidity.

You should look to hermetically seal the room as well.

Sarcasm I hope??

[Glassman10]

15 minutes ago, ToiBoi said:

Sarcasm I hope??

Indeed. The only time radical temps changes might be pertinent is if you were looking at the dewpoint and the potential for condensation to occur between rather dissimilar surfaces. Otherwise, small shift like yours only change the outcomes of the storylines. Mainly happens in Disney books unless you freeze dry them. 

Edited November 4, 2020 by Glassman10
bad night

[ToiBoi]

23 minutes ago, Glassman10 said:

Indeed. The only time radical temps changes might be pertinent is if you were looking at the dewpoint and the potential for condensation to occur between rather dissimilar surfaces. Otherwise, small shift like yours only change the outcomes of the storylines. Mainly happens in Disney books unless you freeze dry them. 

Ah, so dew/condensation creation is the main culprit, not the temperature itself.

[Glassman10]

4 hours ago, ToiBoi said:

Ah, so dew/condensation creation is the main culprit, not the temperature itself.

you need to divide by the square root of sarcasm multiplied times the number of respondents.  An opinion only mind you. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

10 hours ago, Glassman10 said:

you need to divide by the square root of sarcasm multiplied times the number of respondents.  An opinion only mind you. 

Correction: An irrefutable fact.

[shadroch]

What you need to watch out for is large regular swings in the temperature.

For example- you keep your books in a safety deposit box in a vault that is kept at 70%. However, the bank shuts down the AC over the weekend so in the summer it can get up to 85 on Sunday before going back to 70 when they open on Monday. In the winter, it might drop as low as 50% on a three day weekend. Those repeated swings will affect rag paper, which is pretty mjuch any comic before the early 1980s.

When choosing a bank or vault, you want the climate control to be 24/7 not just during bank hours. 

[marvelmaniac]

Putting all of the Sarcasm aside...

Temperature changes cause the paper to expand and contract, when this happens the acids in the papers/inks are released more quickly causing faster decay of the paper. Temperatures that you are showing between 64 and 72 degrees are not a problem. My books have been stored in Comic Boxes, in Mylites with Acid Free Boards away from Moisture/Excessive Heat and Cold/UV Light for 40 years, the only thing I cannot 100% control is the actual humidity and temperature in my home. In the winter the heat is on, if you have gas heat it is a "Dry" heat, in the Summer the A/C is on, however, in Spring and Fall my windows are open and temperature/humidity change constantly with the time of day just as in any home, also most people when they go out lower the heat or raise the A/C temps to conserve giving very little to no thought about items in their home.

Having said all of this, people do not live in a museum, your circumstances are normal and in those conditions along with the others mentioned your comic books will outlive you and your kids and their kids.

There are/were pedigree collections (Edgar Church) that were just stacked in a basement/closet with no protection and remained basically unharmed for years.

Relax and Enjoy Your Books!!!

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/comics.html

http://www.ala.org/alcts/sites/ala.org.alcts/files/content/_MeltzerBkmk16.pdf

https://www.preservationequipment.com/Blog/Blog-Posts/Managing-Relative-Humidity-and-Temperature-in-Museums-and-Galleries

[comicginger1789]

On 11/4/2020 at 11:58 AM, ToiBoi said:

The room where I store my comics fluctuates from 64 to 72 degrees. It does not change immediately but it could be anywhere on that range throughout the day.

 

will this damage my comics?

This is a completely valid question. 

I stored some comics (and backing boards) of mine in my basement. Now, my basement is insulated and finished but it is generally cooler and more humid than the rest of the house. I keep a dehumidifier on in the summer months because the humidity level can get as high as 80% as I don't. My dehumidifier keeps it around 55% or so but there have been times in the past 4 years living in my home where I have been away in the summer and the basement has gotten to its maximum humidity for a couple weeks in a row.

I have noticed that some backing boards I bought have warped because of this. Like a significant bend to them. As for comics, I have a bunch in said bags and boards and a bunch stacked loose. These are readers, beaters and junk I keep in this particular basement room. The comics in bags and boards were fine, no rippling or moisture noticed. However, a few from the early 90s and a couple modern books gathered up enough moisture to obtain a rippling effect to the bottom pages that was not present before. However with newsprint comics from the early 80s and 70s, nothing really noticeable. Again, these are loose in stacks, either in bags and boards or stacked loose.

Compared to my collection, which is also in the basement but are tucked away in bins, away from sun or light and generally enclosed as well as being bagged and boarded. These are in rooms that have, rarely, experience a week or two of higher than normal humidity. My collection isn't so huge that I can't flip through most books in an hour or so (and I have) and these have sustained no visible damage. But again, I make sure the dehumidifier I have is running all summer.

My conclusion is that a drastic enough change (from 55% to 80% humidity) over a decent period of time can definitely affect the backing boards in comics and from what I can see, has a greater effect on comics from the early 90s to more modern ones. Temperature fluctuations are one thing but the humidity level is key. That being said, comics are more resilient than you think. In reality, I could probably do away with my dehumidifer and in 80-100 years, the worst you might see is some slight warping on books that SHOULD press out. However, I play it safe, invested in a decent dehumidifier for peace of mind and that seems to work. For half the year (cuz we get good cold winters), temperature is cool and dry and fine.

[Glassman10]

I always have to keep in mind that my AF15 was in a low quality mylar bag along with the other comics I had. No backer boards at all.  Sometimes I had a hard time finding it.  That persisted for around  fifty years. It showed no change at all. Weirdly, the one comic of them all that fared poorly was an Iron Man 55 which went up substantially in value introducing Thanos as the decades pushed on. It was absolutely gorgeous but every page had turned a very distinct  dark cinnamon brown. It was buried in a pile of other books, all just stacked in the file cabinet. I had no others that remotely had that issue. I was also extremely fortunate that  a mouse had made a home in the cabinet and it only went after one submariner comic which it really completely destroyed. I didn't care for Namor either. I thought he had anger management issues.  I had an ASM 121 that was cared for better than an Egyptian mummy. It really did look nice. 

So I only ask tolerance. I try to keep humor a main focus in life.  Just be kind to your comics. For me? Ignorance was Bliss.  

[ChillMan]

This is an extremely valid question.  I have a hunch that the newbie who asked this will hit BIG on a collectible investment or two in his lifetime.

I hit big twice over the last 15 years....I asked the exact same question on here 8 years ago....I put a temp & humidity sensor in my safety deposit box, shared the results...didn't get much feedback.  But some.  The best I can say is:

I think you're ok as long as the temp doesn't vary too much, and without unusual humidity.  I don't think 10 years of the temp rising to 80 for 2 hours per day in a safety deposit box will affect the comic.