Comic books in plastic wrappers

On behalf of a colleague, Paul Sillitoe <paul [at] sillitoe-uk__net>
writes

>[He] owns a
>home-stored collection of some 300-400 comics, unopened in their
>original "plastic" wrappers.
>
>He is seeking advice about their best means of long-term storage and
>preservation, in home conditions. ...

One solution would be to pack the comics into transparent barrier
film bags, and include appropriate oxygen absorbers. This would
protect the books from nasty external conditions (water, pollution,
pests, etc.), and would also slow some deterioration of the books by
reducing oxygen levels to extremely low levels. The books should be
conditioned to an appropriate humidity before being sealed into the
envelopes.

I presume the owner is concerned with possible ferrotyping /
polishing of the pages, which might be caused by stacking, or very
tightly packing the bags. Would this not be prevented by including a
piece of an appropriate tissue paper to protect the covers?

This approach need not be expensive, especially if the book's owner
is prepared to pack multiple comics into a single bag. More
information on barrier films and oxygen absorbers is at
<URL:http://www.keepsafe.ca>

Jerry Shiner
Keepsafe Systems


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:25
                 Distributed: Saturday, October 6, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-25-012
                                  ***