The power of... Ziploc???

[valiantman]

Hey guys, here's something I just remembered.

 

When I was a younger, there was a guy from my hometown who I was SURE

was gonna make the NFL some day.

 

So, anyway, I clipped articles from the newspaper when he was a sophomore

and junior in high school. For some of them, I "ziplocked" them in a sandwich bag.

For others, I just laid them flat.

 

All of them were stored together in my closet, under some boxes.

 

Anyway, about 5 years later, or so, while looking through my closet,

I found the clippings. The ones stored "out in the open" were browning...

but the ones in the regular-old ziploc bag were still super-white!

 

So, here's a case where nothing more than a ziploc bag was used to "preserve"

cheap newspaper clippings, and the results were amazing after 5 years.

 

My question is... based on preservation theories, SHOULD this have worked?

[Zonker]

Sure.

 

Deprive most chemical reactions of oxygen and they cannot proceed. Not enough of a paper chemist to know the precise mechanism, but it is fairly obviously one that consumes O2. Ziplock may not be a perfect barrier, but your results speak for themselves.

 

Remember the Edgar Church books were the whitest down into the stack. Compression made it difficult for air to get in. That's also why the edges of Golden Age books brown first in normal situations, with the centers of the pages staying white the longest.

 

Cheers,

Z.

[valiantman]

Next question...

 

Anyone know where I can get Ziploc bags big enough for CGC books?

[ArAich]

Next question...

 

Anyone know where I can get Ziploc bags big enough for CGC books?

 

 

Here ya go...

[Shield]

I want to buy some of those today! Anyone know how large a CGC Golden Age holder is exactly? I want to buy the right size!

[jonnydouble]

8 by 12 & 3/4

[ArAich]

Just so ya know...the link I provided was for 2 mil bags...if you browse the sight you will find there are also 4 mil bags along with many other configurations and thicknesses...

[garthgantu]

I seem to recall some debate over the question of sealing comic books entirely in "airtight" plastic or other containers... Obviously, CGC does this, but I wonder if they add some sort of "desiccant" that removes moisture from the inner casing/mylar before sealing?

 

Seems like you'd run the risk of condensation accumulating in the bags if the outside temperature (outside the bag, not outdoors changed substantially in a short period of time? (Kinda like the moisture that shows up on the inside of your car's windshield after a cool/cold night.)

 

I would be leery of simply ziplocking a comic, even if it was in a mylar or polybag inside the ziploc...

 

 

[GudEnuff2Read-migration]

I seem to recall some debate over the question of sealing comic books entirely in "airtight" plastic or other containers... Obviously, CGC does this,

 

 

Where did I read that CGC "slabs" are not airtight?

[shadroch]

While on this subject, I have a question and short story.

I had, for many years, A Newsday from the day after Nixon resigned. it was stored in a plastic bag used for drycleaning and stored in a cedar chest. In 2000 I removed it from the plastic and stored it in a newspaper sizes non-mylar comic storage type bag. In 2000 it was almost white but has since begun to brown. Do you think this was just natural aging? Did the change of bags bring in new air and speed up the process?

[deathlok]

I seem to recall some debate over the question of sealing comic books entirely in "airtight" plastic or other containers... Obviously, CGC does this,

 

 

Where did I read that CGC "slabs" are not airtight?

 

CGC says they are not airtight. I forget where they say that, but I do remember it.

[Tomega]

This might sound outlandish but I have been looking into some of the food vacuum sealers to use on the CGC'd books. I have found gallon bag sizes on the internet which look like they would hold the CGC holder. The smaller ones feel about 4 mil . If the bigger bags fit, I am seriously considering trying it out. There is also 8 inch by 22 foot rolls of plastic that can be heat sealed on each end and then vacuumed sealed but I would prefer the prefabricated bags.

 

Tomega

[Shield]

I would be leery of simply ziplocking a comic, even if it was in a mylar or polybag inside the ziploc...

 

 

Can you tell me what brought you to this conclusion? Seems like exposure to oxygen speeds up the aging process; and a air-tight bag would help slow this process. Of course, low humidity and a lack of light would be the other 2 key factors.

 

I'm going to seal mine up, and buy some of those Ziploc bags. I can't stop thinking about the Mile High copies at the bottom of the stacks that had the least amount of oxygen hitting them. Of course, I also think about how automobiles rust; oxygen and water.