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Gerber backing boards are back-ordered!!
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6 posts in this topic

Hi all, I just got off the phone with E Gerber products and learned that half-back and full-backs won't be available until April.  Does anybody have a favorite non-Gerber acid-free archival backing board?  BCW claims to be acid free but this reference suggests that they are only good for 3-5 years: https://www.bcwsupplies.com/blog/2014/02/16/are-bcw-backing-boards-really-acid-free/.  Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

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Pretty much any backing board is acid free at the time of manufacture.  The difference between "archival" boards and the "acid free" boards is the amount of buffering agent added. The more added, the longer the backing board will stay acid free since any acid that migrates gets neutralized. 

I like the thickness of the full backs, but I think it's more practical to just by regular backing boards and regular bags and plan on switching out every five years or so. Gives one an excuse to go through and look at all your comic books :blush:

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Thanks Tony.  In the link above, they mention this process of acid migration, and state that Gerber boards don't take up any acid from the comics, whereas BCW acid-free boards do, and, as a result, see decreasing pH over time (and hence the need to replace).  If Gerber backs aren't soaking up any acid, but it's still being produced by the comic over time, that would seem no better than just leaving a BCW board in indefinitely.  Basically, there's acid being produced in the comic bag: you can either leave it in the comic (Gerber) or initially soak it up until you can't soak up any more (2-5 yrs), after which time it just gets left in the comic.  Both options are ultimately equal. But the conventional wisdom is that Gerber is best for long term storage, so surely I'm missing something...

Edited by bapowell
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On 1/15/2022 at 3:19 PM, Tony S said:

Pretty much any backing board is acid free at the time of manufacture.  The difference between "archival" boards and the "acid free" boards is the amount of buffering agent added. The more added, the longer the backing board will stay acid free since any acid that migrates gets neutralized. 

I like the thickness of the full backs, but I think it's more practical to just by regular backing boards and regular bags and plan on switching out every five years or so. Gives one an excuse to go through and look at all your comic books :blush:

This is what I do as well. Too many are suckered into the higher cost options.

 

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