Tips for storing collectibles

People collect many different kinds of items, either because they are passionate about something or because they are looking to profit from it. From comic books to antique furniture, anything is a collectible if it’s unique enough. But in any case, properly storing collectibles is important. In order to maintain the pristine appearance of your collectibles, you need to be very careful when putting them in storage. Paper items suffer from high humidity in storage, vinyl, and furniture can suffer due to high temperature. Different types of collectibles require different approaches. Here we will be covering a few of the most common techniques for protecting your precious items.

Choosing the right storage for storing collectibles

No matter if it is your vinyl collection or paper comic books, you need to choose the right storage option if you want to keep your collectibles safe. First and most important thing is humidity. Humidity can damage anything made out of paper or wood. Even if you properly pack your items you need to keep humidity in check. It can penetrate even the best plastic wraps. It can easily make the covers of your comic book warp and stain. And furniture suffers much of the same problems. So make sure that humidity is kept at a constant level.

Temperature is also an important factor when storing collectibles. Constant variations in temperature can be a very bad thing. Especially for plastic items like vinyl or your toy collection. As we all know, all things expand at a higher temperature and shrink when the temperature drops. And all that expanding and shrinking can deform plastic and even wood.

There are many different options when choosing storage Brooklyn. So when deciding, you should pick a location that is not too close to water. Especially salt water. But even if you choose the best possible location temperature and humidity changes still happen. That’s why the best possible option for storing collectibles is to rent a climate controlled storage. That way you can be sure that both temperature and humidity will be at constant levels.

Packing collectibles for storage

Getting a nice, spacious and climate controlled storage unit is a great start. You can now be sure that your collection will be safe from temperature and humidity. But those are not the only things that can affect your collectibles. You also need to make sure that all those precious items are packaged properly.

To get to the storage unit, your items will need to survive a bumpy ride in the back of a truck. So you better make sure that they are well protected. Just because a toy or an action figure is still in its original box doesn’t mean it’s safe. Most collectibles are worth even more when they have a pristine and undamaged packaging. That’s why it’s very important to get yourself good quality boxes. There are many options for moving boxes Brooklyn, but there are still a few things you need to have in mind.

Some items will be just fine if you put a couple of them in the same box. Trading cards, for example, won’t suffer damage if you stack them on top of each other. Under the assumption that they are protected by plastic covers. But if you try to transport a box full of porcelain figurines then you have a problem. Assess how fragile the items you are transporting are. If bumping into each other can damage them, then it’s best to put them all in separate, smaller boxes. You also don’t want your items to be able to move inside the box. So use plenty of bubble wrap.

Storing your collectibles properly

Different kinds of collectibles require attention to different kinds of details. And it’s impossible to cover everything about storing collectibles in a single guide. If your collection is really valuable, or really dear to you, you should definitely consult with experts in that field. But for some things you don’t need experts. You just need to think it through and use some of the time-tested practices.

Storing antique furniture

Antique furniture is not only very valuable, but it is usually very well made. The saying “they don’t make them like they use to” definitely applies here. Here are some tips on how to properly store your antique furniture:

• Avoid cracking and splitting by giving your furniture a wax treatment before putting it in storage.
• Empty the drawers and cabinets to avoid other items inside from damaging your furniture
• Don’t use bubble wrap to cover the furniture. Wood needs to breathe and bubble or plastic wrap will just suffocate it. Instead, use cotton sheets or some other cloth to cover it

• Keep the furniture elevated to protect it from unforeseen circumstances. Putting your furniture on top of wooden pallets is a good practice.

Storing vinyl records

Vinyl records are experiencing a new renaissance lately. And their prices keep going up. And trends suggest that as the time passes their price will continue to rise. So make sure you take good care when storing your collectibles. If your pieces of vinyl are valuable now, imagine how much they will be worth in a couple of years. Here are some tips for properly handling your pieces of vinyl:

• The best temperature for vinyl is 50 degrees and 35 percent relative humidity. Try to get as close to that as possible
• Store your vinyl records upright and organize them according to size. Avoid mixing different sizes and storing them side by side.
• When handling the paper sleeves make sure your hand are washed, dried and free of lotions
• Cover both the record and then the cover with polyethylene sleeve.

Toys and action figures

When it comes to toys and action figures, people collect them for different reasons. They can sometimes be very valuable. And sometimes they are just someone’s passion. No matter what the case is here are some tips on storing collectibles:

• Avoid direct sunlight, as it can cause your collectibles to lose their color
• Also, avoid fluorescent light. It can cause your collectibles to start turning green
• Don’t let the dust accumulate. Over time it can form a dark layer that will be almost impossible to clean
• Keeps the bugs away by inspecting your collection on a regular basis. Bugs are often attracted to toys and can make holes in them
• Don’t put your toys in an airtight bag. It seems like a good idea, but if there is even a small amount of moisture left it can turn to mold.