Took me 3 years to realize I was storing my comics wrong

I had a stack of long boxes in my basement for ages. Found out last weekend that the humidity down there was ruining the covers. A friend at the shop pointed out the wavy pages and said I basically ruined maybe 50 issues. Anyone else have a storage setup they thought was fine but turned out to be a disaster?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera3081mo ago

Used to be one of those guys who swore by the garage for storage. Thought it was perfect since it was out of the way and I could keep the boxes stacked neat. Never even checked the humidity because it seemed fine. Then a buddy pointed out the same thing with wavy pages and I felt like such a fool. Now I keep everything in a closet upstairs with a cheap dehumidifier and a little thermometer. Definitely changed my whole view on what safe storage actually means.

hannahs451mo ago

Oh man, that wavy page discovery is a gut punch. In my experience, a closet on the second floor with a basic dehumidifier is the way to go, just make sure the door stays open a crack for air flow. I'd also grab some silica gel packs to toss in the boxes for extra moisture control, saved me from a similar headache a couple years back.

margaret30429d ago

You gotta get a hygrometer too, those little things are cheap and tell you exactly what the humidity is in the closet. I learned the hard way that just opening the door a crack isn't enough, you need to actually see the numbers. Silica gel packs work great but you have to replace them every few months or they stop doing their job. I kept mine in a sealed plastic tote with a good gasket, made a huge difference compared to regular cardboard boxes. Dehumidifier in a small space like a closet works way better than in a big open room too.