Hello E4ers,
If this topic gains some momentum for educational purposes, I would be glad indeed.
Some of you may have seen that I recently had a bit of a bout with humidity, which damaged a few of my set cards - mainly graded (PSA slabbed) set cards. I live in southern Australia - Victoria in particular. We don’t get the extreme variations of weather like Queensland and upper Australia, but we do see quite warm summers, and cold winters.
To the question - how do you all store your cards (graded, in particular), in particular to combat any humidity or moisture?
I’ve read toothless hours on comic/old paper collectables, and thinking that this is on the same line as our cards. Silica packets, dehumidifiers, cool/dark rooms, etc etc, everyone has their two cents worth. And also with that - the actual storage, boxes, safes, pelican cases, airtight vs not airtight, etc…
Although I do see a trend in keeping humidity levels between 30 and 50% for relatively "safe"storage. Too wet = my issue, too dry = other potential issues.
I keep my house temperature controlled 24/7 unless it is very nice out with low humidity I allow my wife to open the windows, sounds bad but it is what it is and she understands. I get fairly humid summers but nothing like Southern United States. As for storage in my home I keep my collection in one room on the main floor, mainly stored in cardboard boxes.
My suggestions would be to keep your house temperature controlled 24/7 if possible. If not have a dehumidifier in your home near where you store your collection. Keep your collection on the main floor. If you use any airtight case/safe use silica packets and change out regularly.
Thanks for the tips there ccrntrade. Very helpful.
Further on to my query - I’ve purchased a hygrometer and have started to notice that the area (small closet) I store my cards varies between 48% and 58%, sometimes touching 60%.
It is a rather small room so I am considering some sort of dehumidifier without power, as there is no power outlet. I’ve considered Eva-Dry hangable units and the like… My humidity levels are not “extreme”, but is my readings still high for storage?
Storing most of my cards in cardboard PSA boxes at the moment, but if anyone else stores them inside a case/enclosed box etc - is silica desiccants the go-to, specifically the loose packets? Or is it more relevant to control the room itself with those of the Eva Dry hangable units or similar?
You can put silica gel packets inside the cardboard box. I put mine in safes and also boxes of binders. Controlling the room itself can be a headache unless it’s truly a dedicated Pokemon room.
One thing I notice, at least where I live in the states, northeast, is that the basement is a solid option. This is good so long as you have a single dehumidifier going, basement size pending. It is always warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, even without any type of air conditioning in our house. I have no numbers to verify any of this data, but it has worked for me.
Sadly though, my mom is moving and I live out of country now… so I’m contending with a normal storage facility for the time being. I have graded cards and binders ungraded in the safe. What exactly does the cold do to these cards? Is it worse than humidity? Thanks in advance to any responses!
From my knowledge, it is safest to put in the non-acidic or white/clear beaded types with collectables. The blue beads (the ones that change colour) are dipped in cobalt chloride. Many comic/old poster collectors swear not to use these at all, and only the white/clear type.
I love in Houston, humidity is part of life here. We very rarely freeze, but we have about a month of 100 degrees straight. Add humidity and it is not too fun.
I never thought about humidity and my cards. However many of them are in one of my gun safes (imagine that, a Texan with guns…hard to believe I know) that I keep packets in and they work good. Some of them you can throw in oven to dry out and the reuse them. I could hook up a dehumidifier inside the safe, but I bolted the safe to the floor in a spot were there is not an outlet close by. Not the best planning on my part.
The humidity there sounds not fun at all, especially when it is warm/hot.
Sounds like you have the packets working well inside them… would probably be wise to check out what levels are in the safe for your own knowledge (since it can fluctuate quite alot). Trying to educate myself the best as I go in this topic, and learning quite alot from comic/old poster collectors. Do you use the clear coloured packets/silica also?
I use the ones I can reheat in oven, they come in packs that contain them. I do not know the colors however. They do not come I contact with anything, I never worried about that.
I should get a gauge to check…you are right about that. Guess I figured since the pew pews that are most valuable are also wrapped in “socks” that are designed to keep moisture away they are fine.
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I wonder if the cards being in water tight boxes help them out at all? I didn’t do it on purpose, just those were the cases I had empty at the time.
Ah yes, I know the ones. Can you not see the colour of the beads themselves? What brand is the ones you use?
Water tight boxes might help - but you do need to be rather careful of if it is “sealed” - and thus no air can escape the box, in particular the humidity itself. Obviously unless you have adequate control inside (silica, etc…), but this comes back to my first original query. Many people store cards in simple cardboard boxes and similar, which seems a bit of a trend
Hey mate. I live in aus as well. Would be really good if you could (or someone) link me to the recommended item to purchase to lower humidity in my safe?
Highly recommend www.sensorpush.com/ for a wireless humidity reader. The desiccant packs are great… as long as they aren’t completely saturated and useless. I have a pretty bad habit of buying a bunch of desiccant packs, throwing them in with the cards, but then forgetting about them for several months. The sensor is the bee’s knees and gives you a notification if the humidity or temperature is out of range (whatever you set).
Silica is definitely a product that can be used to good effect, as I know already. The white/clear beads seem the best.
@randox - just to chime in on your direct question. From what I read, anything lower then around 50% RH is idea for cards. Anything lower then 35-40% starts to get “dry” that can lead to other issues, cracking, brittleness etc (that is often seen in old paper documents, etc). Case in point, anywhere between 40-50/55% would be my go-to.
I use these reusable silica gel packets from amazon and they really are useful for lots of things. I put some in with my tools, electronics, video games, safe, Pokemon cards, and guns. Then when they change color, you can just put them in the oven for a bit and they will dry out and change back color again.
