I Had to turn the Heat on in the House today.
YUP it was a balmy 30 this a.m. in The Great state of Maine.
And It Made me think of a Question.
I have THOUSANDS of dollars in cards.
Some in 3 Ring Binders Some in Screw downs
and some in Card Board Card storage boxes.
What Are The Best Conditions to store your cards.
Lets Say Heat ie:hot~cold and Humidity
And when putting cards In Screw Downs.
Soft sleeve or no soft sleeve.
OR it makes no matter.
If any one Knows please Let me Know.

Great Question , I am not even sure what the best way to store cards either. Most of my Cards are in Penny sleeves and Hard Covers in Cardboard Boxes and are stored in my Laundry Room Downstairs. And they seem to be fine.

If anyone else has any Great Ideas to help with this Question please post it .

Cliff

Great Question , I am not even sure what the best way to store cards either. Most of my Cards are in Penny sleeves and Hard Covers in Cardboard Boxes and are stored in my Laundry Room Downstairs. And they seem to be fine.

If anyone else has any Great Ideas to help with this Question please post it .

Cliff

I'm kind of in the same boat as you sealedpwr, my cards are in a small separate room that I do not heat nor do have a/c in. The window is always closed in this room. All of my cards are in sleeve and topladers and in some cases team bags all in cardboard boxes, and I have never had a problem with them thoughout the years. And being in New York we experience all four seasons.

nascards- obviously you wouldn't want to have them near a heat duct or anything like that. If you can, find a room you don't use alot and store them there where the temperature/humidity isn't drastic in changes, and where it's mostly dark, if possible.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you sealedpwr, my cards are in a small separate room that I do not heat nor do have a/c in. The window is always closed in this room. All of my cards are in sleeve and topladers and in some cases team bags all in cardboard boxes, and I have never had a problem with them thoughout the years. And being in New York we experience all four seasons.

nascards- obviously you wouldn't want to have them near a heat duct or anything like that. If you can, find a room you don't use alot and store them there where the temperature/humidity isn't drastic in changes, and where it's mostly dark, if possible.

Never thought of the Dark deal. But good one.
I just live in a mobile home and If any one
has ever been in a mobile home in the winter.
The humidity does weird things. meaning up and down.
What about sleeves in your screw downs ??

A cool, dry and not too bright area is your best bet. If you have your card in binders, make sure to check the sleeves every couple of years. The plastic can degrade and can damage your cards. It may be expensive, but I try to put all of my valuable cards in screw downs with a recess. That allows the card to be protected but not tight against the plastic. There are also some cool new UV resistant holders available. Keep in mind that UV light accounts for only 40% of fading. The other 60% are things such as visible light etc.
I hope this was helpful.
Take care,
Steve

i keep all of mine inside now, in a closet that is dark, in a room that is air conditioned. I made the mistake of leaving a box of them in the garage in a semi-sealed plastic bin, and they got mold on them (this was in houston, tx...the home of crappy humidity). i had to throw out 3500 cards from the late 80s that werent worth much, but had a lot of sentimental value for me.

i take no chances now :)

A cool, dry and not too bright area is your best bet. If you have your card in binders, make sure to check the sleeves every couple of years. The plastic can degrade and can damage your cards. It may be expensive, but I try to put all of my valuable cards in screw downs with a recess. That allows the card to be protected but not tight against the plastic. There are also some cool new UV resistant holders available. Keep in mind that UV light accounts for only 40% of fading. The other 60% are things such as visible light etc.
I hope this was helpful.
Take care,
Steve

I also have mine in the recessed holders. I wish I could find 4 Screw W/Recess I looked on the bay non recessed. My Room is Dark . NO Light what so ever Just desk lamp and corner lamps. I had the AC in the window all summer.
But Now winter is here.

i keep all of mine inside now, in a closet that is dark, in a room that is air conditioned. I made the mistake of leaving a box of them in the garage in a semi-sealed plastic bin, and they got mold on them (this was in houston, tx...the home of crappy humidity). i had to throw out 3500 cards from the late 80s that werent worth much, but had a lot of sentimental value for me.

i take no chances now :)

The Humidity Is what I am most concerned with.
The Furnace is Right next to the room.
I blocked off the Heat vent. And Now Just leave the Door Open.

GR8 topic Rich!
One thing that I might say is the best bet is to keep the cards out of direct light, and definately out of sunlight. If you store cards in binders, it's better to stand the binders on shelves rather then lay them down or stack on top of each other. I always use penny sheets in pocket pages (6 & 9 pocket pages), they're cheap enough as I buy them by the case just for my collections and trades.

The penny sheets in screwdowns is a debate that may go on forever, lol. I personally only use my cards that I actually store in screwdowns directly in the screwdown, no penny sheet. Guess it's up to the individual.
Most of my Cards are in Penny sleeves and Hard Covers in Cardboard Boxes and are stored in my Laundry Room Downstairs. And they seem to be fine.
CliffHey Cliff, You may not have any problems now, but I would be concerned with your storage location over time. You say Laundry Room and that makes me think of several things... high humidity being the main one. When you take WET clothes and add heat, it gives off moisture and not all of it goes out the exhaust vent. Another thing... unless they are well elevated, is there any possibility that a hose on the washer can go bad or burst or something internal in the washer allow water to get near the cards?

I am speaking from experience when I say that I know what a mess wet cards can be! See one small sampling of what the mess looked like here: http://www.lesracing.com/scs/disaster2.JPG I lost around 30,000 base cards (about 10% of my trading stock) from water that ran into my den through a window a/c unit. My laundry area is on the other side of that same wall and the water actually ran UNDER the wall and onto the floor in the laundry area.

Any area that has extreme changes are not a good thing. If you have a place that is not overly lighted, dry and cool with out extreme heat and cool cycles, that sounds like the best place to keep the cards no matter what storage container is used.

Les (:->

Just make sure when you are storing your cards in Penny sleeves (card sleeves) Make sure you buy the good ones.. Ones that are Acid Free & No PVC Free . Reason is the new cards make stick to the plastic sleeves due to the UV Coating on the card. Just a Help tip for you all..
Thanks
Nick
EliteCollectables

i have kept mine in the closet ive found a dark dry place in penny sleeves and toploaders same place for five years no problems.