Long Term Storage
Table of Contents
Introduction
Picking the right storage for your family heirlooms seems relatively straightforward—in theory anyway. Unfortunately, space, time and budget constraints often complicate the matter somewhat but it’s nothing you can’t handle! Before considering all the storage options available though, it’s important to understand what you are trying to accomplish with long term storage. Preservation is the goal—doing what you can to slow down the deterioration of precious family memories. Notice that I said slow down, not stop. Decay is as inescapable as death and taxes but there are many ways to effect the rate at which deterioration occurs.
So, to find out how to ease this destructive process lets start by looking at the things that cause deterioration. Careless handling, extremes of temperature and humidity, exposure to light, acidic environments, pollutants, friction, excessive pressure, lack of proper support and—yes, I have to say it—pests are all things that can harm your photographs, manuscripts, and ephemera. It goes without saying then, that a good storage environment shields your archives from all these damaging things as much as possible. I’ll steal from Hippocrates here and add “First, do no harm.” Make sure that whatever you do to your archives, it won’t be worse than if you had done nothing at all. That’s it, plain and simple. Keep these thoughts in your head at all times and you are sure to make good long term storage decisions. Just to be on the safe side though, and so you have some trivia to bore your friends with at parties, read on for the details of archival storage.
Storage Considerations
Access
One of the pivotal decisions you will make when choosing a long term storage system for your archives is how accessible your documents and memorabilia need to be.
To illustrate why this is an important decision, let’s imagine a shoe box full of great grandma Pearl’s love letters. On the one hand, unfolding items that have been folded for decades can cause the material (paper, cloth etc.) to break at the fold—sometimes even years later. Also, the area at the fold will probably not lay as flat as the rest of the item and will be more vulnerable to friction and pressure. On the other hand, constantly unfolding and refolding items, pulling them from and stuffing them into tight envelopes can be equally harmful. If the letters are to be infrequently viewed the storage solution might be to substitute an acid free, buffered box for the old shoe box but put the letters in the box “as is.” If they will be accessed often, however, they might be safer, unfolded in a clear, plastic sleeve (for readability) inside an acid free box or binder. Get the idea?
If you do not expect to go through your archive boxes more than, say, once every few years, storage can be vastly simplified and yes, significantly less expensive. If, however, you, or anyone in your family is a genealogist, historian, or just actively interested in your family history you should assume that you will want relatively easy access to your family papers. Since any handling contributes to deterioration so you will need to take special precautions for family papers that are going to be viewed often.
Seldom Handled Items
- Swap generic boxes for archival quality containers (see Standards below)
- Letters etc. in reasonably good condition can be left in their original envelopes, folded items left folded.
- Putting every item in its own protective sleeve its not as necessary. You should still sleeve items that are crumbling, torn, fading, or need to be separated because of their high acidity.
- When a new enclosure is required
, paper sleeves or folders can be used instead of clear enclosures.
- Boxes are a better storage option than binders. They offer greater protection from pollutants and light. Archival quality file boxes are fine.
Frequently Handled Items
Rule #1. Even though you plan to access these archives often, it is still important that you do everything you can to minimize the amount of handling they are subjected to. Soooo…
- Store the boxes where they can be easily accessed without having to move every box every time you need something.
- Label all boxes and index their contents so you don’t have to dig through every item in every box to find what you want. Remember, the better your index is the happier your family papers are.
- Pick enclosures and boxes that allow you to either view without removal (clear sleeves) or remove with a minimum of pulling, snagging and flexing.
- Boxes for two dimensional items should be either clamshell or drop front or a combination of lidded boxes and folders so archives can be lifted out easily and without bending.
- Put flat items into enclosures. Clear sleeves are optimal because they allow contents to be viewed without removing thus minimizing friction on the archive and protect it against oils and acids from your hands. If you use opaque sleeves be sure the enclosure opening is large enough to allow easy removal of its contents.
- Folders, albums and binders should lie flat when open.
- Sleeved items (especially if they will be kept in binders) should be fully supported so that when you pick up the item, or turn the binder page, the archive itself will flex as little as possible. Place acid free pressboard, card stock paper or plastic stiffeners in the sleeve, behind the archive to support it.
- Removing items from their original envelopes means that you now risk accidentally separating the various parts of the archive. Be sure that you mark the archive (carefully, unobtrusively and only with pencil!), or its enclosure to permanently identify the parts as belonging to each other. Example, “Letter-Smith to Carlson 2/9/1896 p. 1 of 4
,” 2 of 4 … If the items are in binder pages, you can stack the pages and then run a piece of white, cotton string though one of the holes. Remember to tie the string loosely so the pages will be able to flip individually in the binder.
- If you plan to have an archive out and exposed for long periods, to do research from for example, read the section below on light and take appropriate precautions.
The Storage Environment
I’m guessing that you don’t have a dedicated environmentally controlled, hepa filtered, dust free, UV free storage room for your family papers. Heck, some museums don’t even have that. Still, your cherished family papers and memorabilia will love you and lead happier
, longer lives if you put some thought into picking the best storage environment possible- even if you can’t afford the $2,000 hygrothermograph to monitor your humidity. Here’s what you need to think about:
Humidity – Excessively moist environments encourage mold and pests and can speed up chemical processes that cause decay. Very dry air can desiccate paper and other materials causing them to become brittle.
- Avoid obviously damp areas like basements, laundry rooms and bathrooms (well, you never know). Store your boxes at least 6 inches off the floor in case of minor flooding and to allow air to pass under the boxes. If you must store in a humid area
, keep the storage shelves at least 12 inches from the wall and consider getting a dehumidifier. If you do get a dehumidifier, be sure you have a way to drain it directly into a nearby sink or drain to avoid overflow problems.
- Avoid potentially dry areas like attics and furnace rooms. If you live in a desert state (you know you do if half your paycheck goes to buying moisture lotions) you might consider investing in a small humidifier.
- If you do opt for a humidifier or dehumidifier, make sure that the machine you buy (or its location) doesn’t cause problems in the other direction by over drying or humidifying the room. If your really concerned with providing an optimal environment
, a decent hygrometer can be purchased for $50-90. Be sure to measure the humidity several times a day over several weeks so that you can see how stable the relative humidity is.
Ideal humidity levels: 35-45% RH with no fluctuations
Practical: As close to 30-50% RH and as stable as you can possibly get
Temperature – Extremes of temperature (cold or hot) or large fluctuations in temperature (rapid changes from hot to cold or cold to hot) are harmful.
Avoid:
- Attics
- Close proximity to air conditioning and heat vents or furnaces
- Garages.
- Direct light or bright rooms
Ideal: 40-50° for photographs and negatives
, 50-70° for other materials
Practical: Follow the Golden Rule: Don’t put your papers anywhere you wouldn’t want to live! Dark closets inside the house work very well.
Light – UV rays fade and dry archives and can drastically speed deterioration. Store your family papers away from direct sunlight and preferably in a room with no windows, skylights etc. Closets are fine for this. Florescent lights are the most damaging type of artificial light so resist the urge to use energy saving florescent bulbs in your storage and viewing areas. Plain old incandescent bulbs are best. If you have only florescent lighting or a windowed storage area
, consider getting UV screening film to cover the light tube or window. This is an extra expense but may be well worth it.
Ideal: No light at all in the storage area.
Practical: No direct light, low ambient light, incandescent rather than florescent bulbs, opaque, fully surrounding containers.
Air Quality
- Air pollution (airborne chemicals, soot etc.) is increasingly a concern – even for those living in less urban areas. Protect against pollution by using containers that fully enclosed their contents and store away from windows, drafts and outside vents (in a closet for example). Containers that have a 3% calcium or magnesium carbonate buffer additive are more resistant to acidity and offer additional protection against the detrimental effects of poor air quality.
CAUTION: Although buffering is commonly used, it not appropriate for all archives. Anything that comes in direct contact with color, albumen, cyantotype, or dry transfer photographs and protein fibers (silk and wool), for example, should be unbuffered. Remember, an object (a dress for example) may be made of many different materials. When in doubt, use unbuffered products for anything that comes in direct contact with the item. - Wood and paint emit vapors that can be harmful to archives (a process called off-gassing). Storage shelving should be metal with a baked on enamel paint and open around the back and sides. Open shelves allow the air to circulate around your containers and carry off any toxic fumes. The test? Put your nose to the shelf. If you can smell it, it’s emitting potentially harmful fumes! Now for the good news: The gray metal shelves you find at your local hardware or discount store perfectly fit the bill.
- Believe it or not, organic materials (paper, wood, natural dyes and inks etc.) can emit toxic vapors as a part of the decay process. Paper containers and enclosures breathe better than plastic and dissipate any harmful emissions away from the archives. Clear plastic enclosures are fine as long as they are open on at least one side. Although many respected institutions use encapsulation, I do not recommend it or any other type of air tight enclosure for general use.
Pressure – To minimize pressure on archives:
- Do not overstuff storage boxes, folders, envelopes or binders.
- Size all containers and enclosures generously so that papers don’t get pinched or bent.
- Store heavy items separately from light or delicate items and 3 dimensional items separate from flat ones.
- Use sturdy boxes that won’t collapse or bend.
- If you need to stack boxes make sure you purchase ones with very sturdy corners and don’t stack them so high that the bottom boxes begin to collapse. Put the heaviest boxes on the bottom, lightest on top and line the corners up so the sturdy corners are taking the weight, not the weaker middle areas.
- Ideally, binders and albums are best stored flat and unstacked. If you store them vertically make sure the spine and cover are sturdy enough to hold the pages vertical. Make sure the album is full enough that the pages within aren’t sagging.
- Never put curled or cockled documents, photographs or negatives into enclosures or folders where they will be pressed flat! Ever! Doing this will very probably cause the item to split or, in the case of photographs and negatives, cause the image or support to crack. This is true even for mildly curled objects. Store them loose in a properly sized box.
- Never store sleeved items unprotected. Instead, put them into boxes, folders inside boxes, binders or Album Boxes.
Acid – Most paper products manufactured after the mid-eighteen hundreds have a high acid and lignin (wood pulp impurities) content. Acid is one of the greatest contributors to deterioration. Be sure that anything in intimate contact with your archive is acid/lignin free. Acid leaches from most acidic to least acidic (this is what causes the brown stains you sometimes find on old paper items) so be sure that acidic items prevented from contacting other
, possibly less acidic items. Depending on the chemical content of your archive, acid neutralizing sprays can actually damage your archive so it’s safest not to use them.
Archival Storage Supplies
First, A Word About Archival Quality
Unfortunately there is no standard definition for the terms “archival,” “archive or photo-safe,” and “archival quality” which means that anyone can use these words to describe their product. Additionally, even seemingly safe products like acid free or lignin free interact differently depending on their quality. Confusing and, if you don’t mind my saying, darned depressing. Fortunately there is hope. Here are some ways to ensure that the product you buy will be safe for your long term storage needs:
- Buy from trusted archival suppliers like those that sell to libraries, museums, archives or historical societies. By necessity, they have high standards for their products. For a short list of some good vendors consult the post: Quality Archival Supplies.
- Some local museums sell archival boxes. They buy in bulk and sell what they don’t need. They aren’t likely to advertise so call them to see. If it’s good enough for a museum, its good enough for you.
- If not buying from a trusted source
- Check the packaging for a pH level or the phrase “PAT Certified” or “PAT Passed.” If you don’t find either of these, ask the salesperson to check their order catalogue description or go home and look the product up online before purchasing.
Definition: PAT stands for Photographic Activity Test. Developed by The Image Performance Institute it predicts possible interactions between photographic images and the enclosures in which they are stored. Special detector strips are placed in contact with samples of storage materials which are then artificially aged using temperature and humidity. Materials which causes substantial fading or staining on the detectors can be singled out as harmful to photographs. The PAT is also used to test the components of enclosures, such as adhesives, inks, paints, labels, and tapes. This test, now the ANSI standard, is currently the only standard available for determining how a particular storage material is going to interact with your photograph. PAT certification does NOT guarantee that the product it certifies will preserve your archive forever, or even for a known period of time. It does, however, give the humble archiver a sound place from which to start making his or her long term storage choices. (Burge, Daniel M. “Just What is the Photographic Activity Test?” Picture Framing Magazine, Feb.1996)
- Make sure that all the materials in the product meet the standards given in Standards for Archival Quality Materials post.
- Check the packaging for a pH level or the phrase “PAT Certified” or “PAT Passed.” If you don’t find either of these, ask the salesperson to check their order catalogue description or go home and look the product up online before purchasing.
Boxes
Archival boxes come in every size and shape imaginable, from the tiniest artifact container to boxes large enough to house newspapers and voluminous 18th century court dresses. Rest assured, no matter how unusual your family memorabilia is (we’ve all seen Antiques Roadshow) there is a quality box to protect it.
Quality containers can be pressboard
, corrugated cardboard or plastic. One of the decisions you will face in your quest for the perfect storage solution for your archives is whether to buy paper (cardboard) or plastic containers. When of good archival quality, both have their merits but my general preference leans toward paper for boxes for the following reasons:
- As mentioned above, plastic containers trap armful emissions released by the archives themselves.
- Plastic boxes can trap humidity or prevent a sufficiently humid environment. Remember – too dry is as bad as too wet.
- Cardboard boxes absorb moisture.
- Buffered containers actively absorb pollutants
The choice is strictly personal based on your needs, budget and preferences but be sure what you choose meets the standards listed above.
Common Configurations
- Flat Box – longer and wider than it is deep/tall.
- Lidded Box – box with a lid that removes completely.
- Deep lid – the sides of the lid completely cover the sides of the box
- Shallow lid – the sides of the lid come only part-way (usually a third or less) down the sides of the box.
- Clamshell Box – box with a hinged lid that is attached along one side. The box opens like a book and when open, the lid lies flat next to the box.
- Drop Front Box – lidded box where one side of the box (not the lid) drops outward and lies flat. This enables the contents to easily slide out.
- Lidded Box – box with a lid that removes completely.
- Vertical/Document Case – taller than it is long or wide. For holding file folders in an upright position. Can be lidded or clamshell, fiberboard or corrugated. Commonly sized to fit standard or legal file folders.
- Artifact/Object Box – comes with dividers or smaller boxes inside so you can safely store oddly shaped items together without touching. Can be lidded or clamshell. Use in conjunction with acid free tissue or archival batting to store any assortment of smaller objects you can think of: antique Christmas tree ornaments
, grandma’s knick knacks, small quilled decorations, Uncle Joe’s snow globe collection etc. This box is one of the most versatile storage solutions available so keep it in the front of your mind.
- File/Storage Box- corrugated box, lidded or clamshell. Can come as flat, precut cardboard that you assemble yourself by folding along scored lines. These look like the file boxes you find at office supply stores but are of archival quality.
- BinderBox, Binder in a Box, AlbumBox, Preservation Box/Album – a clamshell box that has binder rings inside – usually 3 D-rings. These combine the viewablitilty of albums or binders with the full protection of a box.
- Metal Edged Box – non-corrugated boxes with metal supports on the exterior corners to add strength to the structure. Although the metal edges don’t guarantee that the box won’t collapse (and lack of them doesn’t mean it will collapse) they are a quality feature and worth the extra money. Can be flat, vertical or artifact box.
- Presentation boxes – usually clamshell, these boxes are made of thicker materials and have a more attractive exterior. They are also considerably more expensive than fiberboard or corrugated boxes.
Specialty Boxes
These boxes are sized to fit specific shaped items but don’t let that keep you from using them for other types of archives. Be creative when looking for storage solutions.
- Photograph – sized to fit standard size photographs. They can come as kits with packets of acid free paper photograph and negative envelopes. High capacity photo boxes have several compartments for photo envelopes and can hold 1600+ photos.
- Carte de Vista – sized to fit Carte de Vista photographs.
- Cabinet Card – sized to fit Cabinet Card photographs.
- Negative boxes – boxes sized to fit film negatives: 120mm, 35 mm strips etc. Kits come with box and paper negative sleeves.
- Slide files – slide files are as wide as normal slides and hold about … slides. Slide file boxes enclose slide files as a measure of added protection.
- Slide Cases – plastic or metal cases with 35mm size compartments or slots inside
- Slide Cabinets – plastic or metal cabinets with slide size drawers
- Glass lantern – sized to fit glass lantern slides with vertical slots inside to hold the slides upright and away from each other.
- Postcard – sized to fit postcards.
- CD/DVD – sized to fit digital media.
- Video – sized either for VHS or Beta cassettes.
- Newspaper – fits a standard sized newspaper.
- Textile – sized to fit either rolled or folded textiles.
Albums, Binders
These are just what they seem, ringed binders or albums that hold clear, preserver pages. Albums can come with or without cover boxes and come in all kinds of colors and designs. Commonly sized to hold 8 1/2″ x 11″ pages or 12″ x 12″ pages. Make sure the album is larger (all the way around) than your biggest page. If you need to save money
, regular office notebooks can be used since the archive itself will be protected in an archival-safe plastic page and won’t come in contact with the binder itself.
Caution: DO NOT buy the albums with self-stick or “magnetic” pages – they are disastrous for long term storage. The “magnetic” quality of the adhesive often goes bad over time and both the protective plastic film and the page can become permanently glued to the archive. This type of page can irrevocably ruin your photos and manuscripts.
Enclosures
Made of paper, Tyvek®, polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene. enclosures encase individual items. Enclosures can be used for virtually any flat objects: ephemera, manuscripts and images of all kinds and sizes. Ideally, they should be sized large enough so they won’t bend or put pressure on the archive within and small enough that they don’t let the document bang around inside the sleeve. Bigger is better in this case. Glad ziplock bags are 100% polyethylene and are an inexpensive alternative to specialty bags.
Clear plastic enclosures vary in their clarity. Read the product descriptions carefully when making your choices.
Common Configurations
- Envelopes – sealed on three sides with a flap covering the open end.
- Plain sleeves – sealed on three sides with one side open.
- L sleeves, L-velopes – sealed on two sides and open on two sides allowing easier removal of the contents.
- 4 Flap Negative Wrappers – made of paper and shaped roughly like the Red Cross emblem. The negative is placed in the center and the flaps are folded down over it. Works well for large format negatives and glass lantern slides.
- Binder/album pages – plastic pages with holes punched along one side for insertion into ringed albums or binders. Binder pages will either be undivided ( single slot, commonly 8″ x 10″, 8 1/2″ x 11″ or 12″ x 12″) or divided (multiple slots created with heat sealing seams) and come in several types:
- Negative pages – sized to fit various sized single or strip negatives and usually made of softer plastic to prevent scratching delicate emulsions. Negative pages can also come in hanging format with a file hanger running through a pocket across the top of the page. The page then hangs like a hanging file folder.
- Photograph – sized to fit 3″ x 5″, 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″, or panorama prints.
- Slide – sized to fit various slide formats.
- Encapsulation – 2 plastic sheets in between which the archive is placed. The sheets are then sealed around all four edges. Although permanently sealed, the enclosure can be opened, if need be, without damaging the archive. Many museums use these for severely degraded archives but there is controversy about whether trapped humidity and toxic emissions is in itself harmful. For this reason, I do not use personally encapsulation.
- Lamination – I only include lamination to distinguish this highly destructive process from the more benign encapsulation. Laminating plastics glue DIRECTLY to the archive and the process is IRREVERSIBLE. As if that weren’t bad enough, the adhesives and plastics used for laminating are NOT archival and will yellow, stain and bubble over time. Never, NEVER laminate an archive! Got it? Goooooood.
Tissue Paper – buffered or unbuffered depending on the archive. Sold in sheets or rolls. Used to pad or protect objects.
Paper Sheets – used as a background, support or protection for paper documents or ephemera.
- Dye free, unbleached is best.
- pH of 7.0-8.5 depending on your need.
- When used as a support, you will need stiff cardstock paper.
References and Resources
Eaton, George T. Conservation of Photographs. Kodak Publication No. F-40. Rochester: Eastman Kodak Company. 1985.
Haskins, Scott M. How to Save Your Stuff From a Disaster. Santa Barbara: Preservation Help Publications. 1996.
Heritage Preservation, ed. Caring for Your Collections: Preserving and Protecting Your Art and Other Collectibles. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1992.
Long, Jane S. and Richard W. Caring for Your Family Treasures. New York: Heritage Preservation, Inc. 2000.
Mailand, Harold F. Considerations for the Care of Textiles and Costumes: a Handbook for the Non-Specialist. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. 1980.
Mailand, Harold F. and Dorothy Sites Alig. Preserving Textiles: A Guide for the Nonspecialist. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. 1999.
Reilly, James M. The Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints. Kodak Publication No. G-28. Rochester: Eastman Kodak Company. 1986.
Sagraves, Barbara A Preservation Guide. Orem, Utah: Ancestry, Inc. 1995.
Sturdevant, Katherine Scott. Organizing and Preserving Your Heirloom Documents. Cincinnati: Betterway Books. 2002.
Taylor, Maureen A. Preserving Your Family Photographs: How to Organize, Present, and Restore You Precious Family Images. Cincinnati: Betterway Books. 2001.
Tuttle, Craig A., On Ounce of Preservation. Highland City, Florida: Rainbow Books, Inc. 1995.
Williams, Marc A., Keeping it All Together-the Preservation and Care of Historic Furniture. 2nd ed. Worthington, Ohio: Ohio Antique Review. 1990.
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