No matter what you collect, keeping your collectibles safe is crucial. Whether it’s stamps, vintage toys, or comic books, here are some tips to help you store your collectibles properly.
Storing Small Collectibles
Coins, stamps, and trading cards make for great items to collect because they’re small, but each has a tremendous amount of variety. When you have a lot of small collectibles, though, storing them can become a bit tricky.
If you haven’t done so already, put your small collectibles in binders, volumes, or unique cases created just for the object. This will ensure protection from dust and dirt while also helping to categorize your collection. If you’re storing somewhere humidity is hard to control, add silica gel packets to your stamp and trading card collections to help absorb excess moisture. Above all, store your collection in place without much sunlight, as the sun can damage your items over time.
Storing Comic Books
Comic books are one of the most popular types of collectibles, and they are also one of the most fragile. So, storing them requires special care.
The golden rule to remember: make sure each book is bagged and boarded. There are many types of bags designed for preserving comic books, ranging from polyethylene to polypropylene. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what material you choose. As long as your comics are bagged, they won’t be at risk of fading. When you place your comic books in a bag, don’t forget to add a storage board as well. This is used to keep comics crease-free and should be made of acid-free materials. Another good tip for keeping your comics in great condition is putting them in a suitable box, like a specialty comic box or archival storage box, after being bagged and boarded. This will further protect from damages that could happen. Just remember to stand the comics upright rather than stacking one on top of the other.
Storing Vinyl Records
Vinyl records have had a resurgence in recent years, making vintage records very sought-after. Whether you want to preserve some records to sell later on or share with family members down the road, you need to store them the right way to ensure they’re still playable.
Vinyl records should be stored upright with the same-sized records to maintain the condition of both the edges and faces of the sleeves and the records themselves. Avoid storing your records in a place where temperatures will shift a lot or will be in direct light, as these things can warp and deteriorate your vinyl record collection over time.
Storing Antique and Vintage Toys
Preserving your vintage toys and games is crucial whether you’re a serious antique collector or just have some priceless family heirlooms you want to keep safe.
Start by making sure all the items are clean. Next, sort your toys so you separate hard and sharp toys away from soft toys to prevent tears, scratches, and other damage. If you have a large collection, shelving (whether in your home or a storage unit) can help you organize your collection while allowing everything to have airflow.
Storing Vintage Clothes
When your vintage clothing items aren’t being worn, they need to be properly stored to prevent deterioration.
The best way to store your vintage clothing collection is to pack all types in large wardrobe boxes. This will help prevent creasing by ensuring all the clothes lie flat. If you have to hang vintage clothes, stay away from wire hangers, as they can rust over time. And never store your collectibles in plastic bags. Plastic bags can create humidity and cause mildew and mold to grow on the clothes, ruining them. If you want to cover your pieces, do so with an old pillowcase or sheet to allow everything to breathe.
Storing Antiques
It’s fun collecting antique furniture and décor, but they tend to require more space than some other collectibles. No matter the shape or size, there are some essential tips to make sure you’re storing your antiques the right way.
It’s a good idea to keep your antiques slightly elevated off the floor, so utilize a pallet or cinder blocks to raise furniture items off the ground. Antique décor can be placed on shelves. As we mentioned above with vintage clothing, don’t cover or wrap your antiques in bubble wrap or plastic film. You don’t want to destroy your items with mold or mildew. Cover them with fabric sheets or blankets to ensure they are safe from dust but are still able to breathe.
If you need a safe and secure space to keep your keepsakes, collectibles, and antiques, Bay Street Storage is here to lend a hand!
Store Your Treasured Collectibles at Bay Street Storage
If you need a safe and secure space to keep your keepsakes, collectibles, and antiques, Bay Street Storage is here to lend a hand! No matter what size unit you need, we have something to accommodate you. We have two convenient locations in Post Falls for you to choose from, and we’ve got all your storage needs covered. We’re here to make your storage experience easy. If you need any help, let us know!
